Eucalyptus.  Essence of Australia The Story of the Eucalyptus Oil industry and of the Eucy Men and Their Contribution to the Australian Bush Tradition  By  Des Shiel Published By Queensberry Hill Press  Handbound By Dove Bindery ______________________________________________________ Overview Aboriginals have known of the antiseptic qualities of eucalyptus oil thousands of years before white settlement. Its history then is long, but it was not until 1853 When Richmond pharmacist Joseph Bosisto established his still on the Dandenong Creek near Dandenong that oil production gained a commercial base. Thirty years later, Australian oil was being exported to all parts of the world, and the dreams of Bosisto and his friend Ferdinand Von Mueller, of the uniquely Australian industry based on the ubiquitous eucalypt seemed a reality.  But by the 1980s we were importing more eucalyptus oil than we exported. The baby eucalyptus industry had to struggle and failed. Many did not give up the fight. They came to be called the Eucy. It almost became an addiction for many, as though once a smell of it was there, it was not easily given up. Production today, in fact, is still in the hands of the direct family descendants of the early workers who pioneered the industry deep in the Australian Bush with the crudest of technology. The industry has had a rollercoaster history but the troughs have been many and long - the peaks few. Today the main producers are completely mechanised and a degree of optimism has come from this mechanisation and the fact that science is still discovering new uses for the oil's products.  They are great dreamers ... the Eucy men. Des Shiel takes on a trip exploring the eucalyptus industry in this beautifully produced book. Description Very good, almost like new.  This stunning book is approximately 250 pages; 250mm x 185mm including 24 pages of colour plates and 32 pages of half-tone and line illustrations. The pictorial matter details the history of the industry and includes splendid reproductions of the brands, advertisements and labels from the earliest marketing of Eucy.  The colour plates are of modern day distilling & remnants of the past, that stud the paddocks of North Central Victoria.  This book is type-set in linotype Times 12,10 and eight point,  the paper stock is 115 GSM Book Wove for the Text,and Gloss Art for the half tones and colour plates. The book has been hand folded but Machine sewn. A half deluxe edition Three quarter English Morocco Leather with Cockerell marble boards. The papers are marbled by hand so no two copies are the same.  The book is limited to a total of 350 copies, this being copy # 87. Please check pictures and don't hesitate to ask if you have any queries! 64