The Eureka Stockade Ballarat

This engraving of the storming of the Eureka Stockade was published in 'the Picturesque Atlas of Australasia', as part of a section titled ' a historical sketch of Victoria' and depicts the attack by soldiers of the 12th and 40th Regiments to break the Stockade on 3 December 1854.

The artist W.T Smedley was one of three Americans who worked as principal artists on the 'Picturesque Atlas of Australasia'. The ' Picturesque Atlas of Australasia' of 1886 was an attempt to describe Australia as it was at that time using words and pictures. It was edited by Andrew Garran (1825 - 1901) and included writing by leading politicians, academics and writers illustrated with over 700 images. It was the enterprise of an American art publishing company Picturesque Atlas Publishing Co. Ltd who had been responsible for the successful production of ' Picturesque Canada' in 1882. The company had premises in Wynyard Square, Sydney and employed a team of American and colonial artisans. It was lauded for providing much needed impetus in the Australian art publishing scene of the time. The Picturesque Atlas of Australasia was reprinted in 1887 and 1888 over 50,000 copies were sold.