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Shifting terrain: vision and visual representation in Our Antipodes (1852) and Australia Terra Cognita (1855–6)

Two significant works about Australia from the mid-nineteenth century, Godfrey Mundy's Our Antipodes (1852) and Australia Terra Cognita (1855–6) by William Blandowski, reveal interesting contrasting modes of vision and strategies of visual representation. As signalled by the “Our” of his title, Mundy sees the southern continent largely as a British possession, a suitable destination for Britain's excess population. His entertaining and informative travel narrative, illustrated with fifteen lithographs based on twelve of the author's own sketches plus three by his wife, was well-reviewed with one critic arguing that text and images combined to effectively convey the results of the exercise of Mundy's “observant eye in a strange land”. Blandowski's title suggests that knowledge has replaced the ignorance of earlier centuries and that the provision of information is the principal aim of his illustrations. However, along with scientific details, the landscape plates are richly embellished with “effects” by engraver James Redaway. Tiny figures, both Aboriginal and European, add a narrative dimension. This article will analyse narrative and visual effects as well as point of view in both sets of images, suggesting some perhaps unexpected similarities, but also important differences at this pivotal stage in the history of the southern continent.