“The Life and Adventures of Edward Snell” is significant as an extended narrative diary account of the life of an immigrant caught up in the earliest days of the Victorian gold rush, and then in colonial infrastructure development. It covers a ten year period and is especially engaging, thanks to his amusing accounts and illustrations of events. These refer not only to the larger context of the diggings (and his prior experience in South Australia, and subsequent work in Victoria and Tasmania) but to one man’s personal experience of colonial Australia. (UNESCO) Edward Snell was a skilled and versatile artist, and a man blessed with an independent spirit and a perceptive eye for human foibles. His journal cought the overflow of his creative energies and still sparkles with his personality. With its profuse illustrations, ranging from detailed studies of insects and animals (some delicately coloured) to quickly sketched, humorous impressions of everyday life, it presents a lively and irreverent picture of the society and the land he discovered, and reveals to us a man who loved life - and often loved to make fun of it. (Cover.)