By JO HARRISON
A HEALTHY crowd gathered at the Armidale Town Hall last Friday for the launch of the second edition of the popular book Images of Armidale that explores the fascinating history behind some of Armidale’s historically significant buildings.
The book is a collaboration between historian Lionel Gilbert, illustrator Dennis Hope and photographer Colin Mulquiney with funds raised from the re-worked second edition going towards the Armidale Dumaresq Civic Precinct Project (ADCPP).
Local historian Graham Wilson was at the launch and emphasised how important it was for historically significant towns like Armidale to continually project images of itself through its history.
“Images of Armidale is a very interesting way of presenting history through the written word combined with the visual aspect and interpretations of an artist and of course the photographs as well,” Mr Wilson said.
“What Lionel Gilbert has done over many years has introduced a practical history; and that is where you go out and look at the environment around you, and not many historians did that.
“When I was training in the 1960s there was an emphasis on looking at documents, watching film but not looking at the physical environment, that is what Lionel has done. He introduced the idea of walking around and using your eyes to interpret history.”
About 150 books were sold on the night with Images of Armidale available in all local bookstores and the Armidale Visitors Information Centre for $19.95.
