INTRODUCTION: Who was Max O'Rell?

French author and journalist Lëon Paul MAX O'RELL BLOUET (1848-1903) came to Australia on a lecture tour in the 1890s under his well known nom-de-plume of MAX O'RELL. He was born in Brittany and had served as a cavalry officer in the Franco-German War. In 1872 he went to England As correspondent for several French newspapers he arrived in England in 1972. His first book, John Bull and His Island., was a huge success in both English and French and as a result Max O'Rell became a household word in England and America. He wrote a number of works in a similar vain, all of which were translated by his English wife. Paul Blouet, as a humorist, has been compared to Mark Twain. Between 1890 and 1900 he concentrated on lecturing, often in the United Kingdom and America. He was an amusing speaker and very popular. He died in May 1903 in Paris, where he was a correspondent of the New York Journal.

It is interesting to note that Henry Lawson mentions him in his short story, “Shall We Gather at the River?” which appeared in his 1907 collection, The Romance of the Swag :

"The old man sat on the front seat, stooping forward, with his elbow resting on the desk and his chin on his hand, bunching up his beard over his mouth with his fingers and staring gloomily at Peter with dark, piercing eyes from under bushy eyebrows, just as I've since seen a Scotchman stare at Max O'Rell all through a humorous lecture called 'A nicht wi' Sandy.'”

In this issue of Simply Australia we present Chapter 12 from his book, John Bull and Co., The Great Colonial Branches of the Firm. It was the companion volume to his first book and was published in 1894. The book contains his observations of Australia during his time here and we have included the accompanying illustrations from the book.

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