Letter from the Angus & Robertson archives.

In 1895 Sydney publishers Angus & Robertson (A&R) contracted Lawson to compile a book of his poetry and another of his short stories. These became very popular and, with his regular contributions to leading magazines and newspapers, cemented his reputation as a writer. Flushed with literary success, in 1896 he met and married Bertha Bredt, but when he wasn’t writing Henry slipped into depression, drinking heavily to suppress his shyness and insecurities.

Always short of funds, he sold his copyright to A&R while his books were still on the press. Frustrated by his lack of financial success, he took his wife and two young children to London in April 1900, hoping to conquer the literary world.

Despite some publishing success there, the Lawsons grew homesick. They returned two years later, broke, in poor health and with their marriage in tatters. Lawson’s failure in London was a setback from which he never fully recovered. Bertha divorced him in April 1903, citing his alcoholism and desertion of the family.