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Alfred Greenwood Hales (1860-1936), known as 'Smiler' Hales, was an Australian novelist and war correspondent. This is part of an article about Hales in an Australian newspaper, just after he died:
Mr Hales lived dangerously. He was in every important rush
which took place in the last decade of the nineteenth century - Broken Hill, Coolgardie, Kimberley, North Queensland and some others. He followed the wars, fighting or acting as war correspondent in South Africa, the Russo-Japanese War, wars in the Balkans, and the Great War. He was daring and carefree, a fine horseman, a strong and ready boxer, and participant in all sports requiring athleticism. Hales was a vigorous and imaginative writer, whose pen was often as good humoured and reckless as he himself. His novels, which commanded wide reading, were virile but not as much as his contributions to the daily papers. His letters from South Africa to the Daily Mail during the Boer War caused a sensation. They were read with avidity everywhere. Hales found dramatic, tragic, sentimental and picturesque material where to others there was hardly more than a blank.
A.G. Hales, not smiling
He wrote two novels featuring a man named M'Glusky, an Australian of Scottish descent, this one and M'Glusky, both of which had a dust jacket designed by Blampied. The original drawing is shown below. Blampied also designed dust jackets for three other novels by Hales: The Watcher on the Tower and Maid Molly and Angel Jim.
Later edition
Bibliography code: TFU-22.3i
Publisher: T. Fisher Unwin
Series:
Year: 1922
Format: not seen
Pages:
Binding: not seen
Size: not seen
Dust jacket: signed Blam, under man's right foot
Internal illustrations: none
Price: not known
Printing history: First edition, 1910; 12th impression, 1922
Printed by: not seen
Notes: The panel illustrated left is taken from Blampied's album of dust jackets, presumably from the first edition with his jacket design.
Panel of dust jacket from Blampied's album (click to enlarge)
Later impression
Bibliography code: TFU-22.3ii
Publisher: T. Fisher Unwin
Series: none
Year: 1922
Format: 8vo
Pages: 241
Binding: Red cloth with title and author in black within a black box to edge of boards; title, author and publisher in black on spine; plain rear boards
Size: 192 x 132 mm
Dust jacket: not signed
Internal illustrations: none
Price: 2 shillings 6 pence
Printing history: First edition 1910; 13 impressions to 1925
Printed by: Wyman & Sons Ltd., London, Reading and Fakenham
Dust jacket of 13th impression, 1925 (click to enlarge)
Third impression
Bibliography code: TFU-22.3iii
Publisher: T. Fisher Unwin
Series: none
Year: 1926
Format: 16mo
Pages: 252
Binding: Black linen cloth impressed with Cleopatra's needed and a sphinx either side; title, author and publisher in pale blue on spine; plain rear boards
Size: 181 x 114 mm
Dust jacket: not signed
Internal illustrations: none
Price: 2 shillings
Printing history: First edition, 1910; 14th impression, 1926
Printed by: Wyman & Sons Ltd., London, Reading and Fakenham
Dust jacket of 14th impression, 1926 (click to enlarge)
Notes: This is almost the same as the original drawing for the dust jacket except that the rear dog is sitting, not lying. The man's hat is also slighly different, and the kilt. It may have been the preparatory drawing for the design. Blampied has added 'pied' to the signature 'Blam' and added a dedication to a Mr A. G Lewis, dated November 1921. The colours have faded.