Book Review - The Supply Party by Martin Edmond
The Story of Ludwig Becker from the Burke and Wills Expedition
Mar 17, 2009
One of Australia’s best known explorer stories, the ill-fated expedition of Burke and Wills is generally presented as an either an adventure story or a moral tale of the pitfalls experienced by ill-prepared early explorers in the first years of European settlement in Australia.
Author Martin Edmond offers a more philosophical approach to the story, focusing on the background and experience of the expedition naturalist and artist Ludwig Becker in The Supply Party (East Street Publications, 2009).
The Supply Party
Edmond explores Becker’s background and experiences in The Supply Party, dividing his account into three sections: Art & Life, Life & Death, Death & Art.
Ludwig Becker was born on 5 September 1808 at Offenbach-am-Main, Germany. Edmond offers details of Becker’s family life and education, including his training as an artist, and an account of his life before undertaking the expedition to cross Australia from south to north.
For details of the expedition, Edmond relies heavily on journal entries and letters by Ludwig Becker. There are also colour reproductions of several of Becker’s paintings of landscapes and Aboriginals and annotated drawings of animals and insects he encountered.
Edmond personally follows the path of the expedition as he seeks to convey not only the physical and historical facts, but also insights into Becker’s personality, motivations and personal experiences, which included harsh treatment from expedition leader Burke and attack from displaced Aboriginals.
An Adventure Story, Gently Told
In contrast to the usual tone taken when recounting the infamous journey of Burke and Wills, Edmond takes a far gentler approach. The story is as much an account of the author’s own journey of discovery as an account of the expedition itself.
The Supply Party is a very literary and philosophical account of Ludwig Becker’s life, background, experiences and achievements. Edmond often digresses into off-topic tangents and unconfirmed speculation about Becker’s motives and experiences that may prove annoying to those seeking a more streamlined, factual account.
In his own initial research of Becker, Edmond mentions that he was frustrated by the lack of information providing a “sense of the inwardness of the man”. It is this perspective that Edmond seeks to offer in The Supply Party and through this he also brings a more sensitive and intellectual approach to the history of the Burke and Wills expedition itself.
Martin Edmond
Martin Edmond grew up in New Zealand’s King Country. After university, he toured with avant theatre troupe Red Mole. Since 1981 he has lived in Sydney, working as an author and a screenwriter.
He has written the feature films Illustrious Energy and Terra Nova; his books include The Autobiography of my Father, The Resurrection of Philip Clairmont and Chronicle of the Unsung, which won the Biography Award at the 2005 Montana Book Awards and Luca Antara which was shortlisted in the history category of the same award for 2006.
A New Perspective on a Familiar Tale
While Edmond’s literary approach may not appeal to everyone, The Supply Party is a thoughtful and well-written account of a significant undertaking in Australian exploration history.
Edmond’s appreciation of Becker as an artist and scientist and his own intelligent observations and interpretations of the historical facts of the expedition offer new insight into an oft told tale.
The Supply Party (ISBN: 978-1-921037-26-9, 209 pages)
Related Articles:
The Camel Who Crossed Australia by Jackie French – an account of the Burke and Wills expedition for young readers.
1788 – The Brutal Truth of the First Fleet by David Hill – an account of the preparation, journey and first years of settlement in Australia of the First Fleet passengers.
Breaking the Bank by Carol Baxter – a narrative account of the robbery of £14,000 from Sydney’s Bank of Australia in 1828.
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