Gould's Book Of Fish A Novel In 12 Fish

Art, Design & Photography Australiana General Fiction

Richard Flanagan’s award-winning historical novel Gould’s Book of Fish turns the strange life of colonial forger William Buelow Gould into a vivid romp through 12 gorgeously illustrated fish. This first-edition hardcover from Pan Macmillan Australia (2001) is the copy collectors reach for, wrapped in its original dust jacket and bursting with full-colour plates that echo the story’s obsession with art, obsession, and the sea.

Set in a Tasmanian convict settlement, the book blends fact and fable as Gould paints fish to barter for survival, each chapter a slippery meditation on beauty and brutality. The volume’s tactile, illustrated pages make it feel half-artist’s sketchbook, half-novel, a perfect gift for lovers of literary historical fiction or quirky Australian fiction.

Condition is tidy throughout: pages are clean and tight, while the jacket shows only light shelf scuffing commensurate with age. A handsome shelf presence for readers of Richard Flanagan, maritime fiction, or art-themed novels.