Spice and Magic

144pp, with line drawings in text.  Stiff card covers.  8vo.  Covers are worn, rubbed around edges and spine, with a short corner crease over the lower leading corner, some mild soiling in places.  A gift inscription neatly inked on the first leaf else internally neat, clean, bright and tight.

Husband and wife team David Cox and Betty Beath first travelled to Indonesia in 1975 funded by a grant from the Literature Board of Australia to gather material for writing in Indonesia.  Together they have since produced various publications and music designed to make Indonesians and Australians have a better understanding of their respective cultures.  This, though, is perhaps their most enduring work, recording their first impressions on their first trip to Indonesia – the freshest and most telling commentary on their neighbours to the north and an account of a journey that will remain true for making the initial journey to Bali and Java.