The Felton Bequest is the most important benefaction in Australian art history, and this book details the life of Alfred Felton, an English merchant who lived in Melbourne during the 19th century and was an enormously successful businessman running the wholesale drugstore Felton, Grimwade & Co. during the gold rush. Detailed is how his bequests committee successfully doled out the inheritance to artistic and charitable organizations, despite the contentious public debate over what sorts of art works should be acquired for Melbourne's gallery. Primary sources including Felton's personal writings and the files from the bequests committee document the drama.