Lasseter's Diary

Australian History Gold-Rush Era Australiana Collectibles Adventure Memoir Survival Non-Fiction Outback Exploration Primary-Source Diary Lost Treasure Legend

Lasseter’s Diary (Angus & Robertson, 1986) is the gripping, illustrated paperback account of one of Australia’s most enduring outback legends—Harold Bell Lasseter’s 1930 expedition to find a “lost reef” of gold somewhere between the MacDonnell Ranges and the Petermann Ranges. Told through Lasseter’s own journal entries, the book drops readers straight into the scorching deserts of the Northern Territory and Western Australia, mapping every dwindling waterhole, every desperate decision, and every moment of delirium as the lone prospector pushes deeper into country that even Indigenous guides refused to enter. For collectors of Australian history, this volume is prized because it pairs the unedited diary text with rare period photographs, survey maps and newspaper clippings that were assembled by Angus & Robertson’s editors before the original manuscript disappeared into state archives.

What makes this particular copy special is its condition: a bright, tightly-bound 1986 illustrated edition that has lived in a smoke-free home and shows no underlining, stains or cracked spine—increasingly hard to find in such clean form. Young adults and general readers who devour real-life survival epics like “Into Thin Air” or “Touching the Void” will find Lasseter’s self-documented battle against starvation, dehydration and madness every bit as suspenseful, while historians gain a primary-source window onto the last days of the classic “gold-rush or bust” era. The diary’s final pages, written as Lasseter lay dying beneath a desert oak, are both haunting and heroic, cementing the book’s status as essential reading for anyone fascinated by Australia’s obsession with lost treasures and the price of chasing them.

As a search-friendly collectible, “Lasseter’s Diary 1986 paperback” consistently ranks among the top-requested out-of-print Australiana titles on AbeBooks and eBay; complete, very-good copies with all illustrations intact now fetch two to three times cover price at auction. Whether you’re building a library of Australian exploration narratives, sourcing engaging YA non-fiction, or hunting for a gift that combines adventure, history and a touch of folklore, this edition delivers the full, unfiltered voice of the man who walked into the desert looking for gold and walked out as a legend.

Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.