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About The King of Melbourne:
Colonial Melbourne's most influential figure was more intriguing than you know
116 years ago, an extraordinary mausoleum of Egyptianizing architecture was built in a cemetery in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. Based on a well-known structure in Egypt called Trajan’s Kiosk and designed by one of the most beloved architects of the day, it is considered a masterpiece of Arts and Crafts architecture.
It is the final resting place of one of the city’s most prominent and well-known citizens, the owner of The Age newspaper and Scottish immigrant David Syme, and later his wife Annabella.
Designed as a family mausoleum, not one their nine children would join their parents in the crypt however.
Soon afterwards the fascinating story of how the tomb came to be, and the prominence of the man it was built for faded into history, with many details lost, and many hidden; the ensuing result was the emergence of misconceptions and even the very architectural authorship of the monument came into question!
This new biography about David Syme is not only about the heritage listed tomb but the spiritual understandings of the man himself, told from the perspective of a researcher - artist who has engaged with the monument in paintings and public talks for almost a decade.
Apart from a survey of the monument itself and the incredible artisans responsible for its creation ( Walter Butler, Royston Bradshaw, Mabel Young, and stonemasons the Ballantine Brothers), the book explores what David Syme thought about religion: from his Calvinist beginnings as a young man in Scotland, to the afterlife and how Ancient Egyptian religion and symbolism are reflected in the very mausoleum itself.
Edited by Dr. Tamara Siuda and with a foreword by Dr. Jasmine Day, the book examines connections to early Australian Prime Minister and Federation draftsman Alfred Deakin, British Spiritualist Gerald Massey, the prevalence of Spiritualism & Theosophy in a burgeoning colonial city, and a pioneering newspaper that set the template for mighty newspapers in Australia and worldwide.
The book emerged from a popular talk about the Syme Monument
The King of Melbourne began as a series of paintings and culminated in a series of 1 hour talks presented across Melbourne.
For more on the talk including a speech given by Ranald Macdonald - last Syme at The Age - and testimonials from Dr. Judith Brett
and the late Dr. Liz Morrison go here.
About The King of Melbourne
Don't Miss Out! Pre-orders at extra special rate close on May 17. Free postage within Australia.
Go here to reserve your copy.