143:. She must have been raving mad. I've been delicately hinting that there was never a good moment at which to start a highbrow magazine but Cecily chose the very worst...in wartime it seems to be generally agreed that there's something unpatriotic, something downright subversive, about any cultural activity other than painting portraits of generals or writing dispatches as a war correspondent. To her credit, Cecily didn't give a hoot for whatever tut-tutting disapproval she may have encountered but she must have felt tempted on occasion to call the whole harebrained enterprise off when she came up against the material difficulties involved. For another wartime phenomenon is that, within minutes of hostilities breaking out, everything, from bootlaces to wheelbarrows, and everybody, from circus acrobats to monumental masons, virtually disappear overnight. When
45:
52:
91:"gift of some copies of a queer (to me) little publication, 'a comment,' produced in Melbourne. It is a manifestation of the revolt of some young persons against the order of things accepted by the great majority, as surrealism is in the field of pictorial art. Making a bold bid for freedom 'a comment' will have no truck with capital letters, and the arch rebels among its contributors scorn punctuation."
114:...It is an attractive little magazine, if you like this sort of thing...A comment on Angry Adelaide with a plea for freedom of expression, a fine poem by Alec King, and one or two indifferent lino cuts make up the staple of this number. For those interested, it is well worth the price. Those who like the orthodox are urged to stick to their accustomed periodical literature."
131:, has become the only Australian periodical of progressive literary design. It is aptly illustrated by linocuts and photo-studies by contemporary artists such as Menkhorst and Irvine Green. Its publisher can be congratulated upon the magazine’s value as a mouth piece and forum of progressive endeavour, and should be encouraged by greater publicity for her efforts."
383:
Writing in 1955 John
Tregenza noted that "Of the thirty-seven little magazines published in Australia since 1923, only five succeeded in lasting for more than ten issues," and of aCOMMENT notes its success in that it "had managed to avoid the rocks for an exceptionally long time — for seven years and
259:
Cecily
Crozier was its editor (though Kershaw records that "at one point she furnished an editorial which specifically stated that there was no editor,") and also wrote for the magazine, while Irvine Green was its designer and illustrator, photographer and a contributing writer. Though he joined the
63:
Cecily
Crozier, recently returned with her mother to Australia at the commencement of WW2, noted in 1940 that Melbourne had no avant-garde literary magazine. Despite wartime being inopportune for the launch of such a venture she, with her cousins Sylvia, Eila and Irvine Heber Green (1913–1997) in
403:
sought to express the feelings and sensuality of a new generation of artists and thinkers, and, in Max Harris’ words, to ‘be at one with the surrealists and revolutionaries in defeating a moral system and a moral society which expresses the victory of death the corruption of
226:
declared; "Our aim is stimulation...we will extract from the surrounding gloom a few people who will be really interested in our effort to put into print the newest ideas in writing and design." In issue four
Crozier challenges her readers: “Why not let
171:. The cover price was sixpence (1940–1942); one shilling (1943); rising to one shilling and sixpence (1944–1947). It was available by subscription; in one editorial Crozier boasts 300 subscribers. It also sold in Sydney, where artists
122:
columnist George M. Berger, having himself contributed to the magazine, noted that "among...the magazine’s principal contributors, are at least two Jews, Max Harris and Karl
Shapiro," and was less equivocal in praise;
712:
231:
be the battle ground upon which YOU will fight for your ideals and ideas.” The last issue, Winter 1947 featured Max Harris, Irvine Green, and Karl
Shapiro; there is a two-page review of Shapiro's
147:
came in to existence there was a shortage a of printers and a shortage of type, a shortage of staples, a shortage, for all I know, of ink. And, first and foremost, there was a shortage of paper."
713:"A Comment. A Journal of Poetry, Art, Literature and Social Comment. Edited by Cecily Crozier. Number 15, March 1943 by Australian Literary Journal on Michael Treloar Antiquarian Booksellers"
348:
published in 1948. Shapiro enthused about the magazine; "A COMMENT should be shown in
America. It is brave and good—as good as our best—and really a signpost in a world of destroyed art”
100:
rated it "the most suavely produced – on brown paper with Cairo type – sophisticated man-about-town (and lately somewhat in need of cash) of the literary journals," while
151:
Victoria Perin notes that
Crozier was among a number of women during WW2 who valiantly nurtured and maintained the still nascent modernist art and culture of Australia.
222:
promoted experimental, often surrealist, writing and art, publishing the work of some of
Australia's most prominent modernists of the 1940s. The first number of
81:, with which it shared many of its contributors, and which it outlived by a year. The mainstream press was slow to report its existence. In October 1941 Perth's
371:
has always been run on subscriptions, with the always large deficit made up from either Irvine Green’s pocket or my own...I need 150 subscriptions to bring
367:
for a considerable time. The subscriptions I asked for some time ago have never materialised, as I’m afraid I hoped and expected. May l say once again that
167:, and set in the Cairo typeface. Issues of 8–30 pages appeared irregularly; nominally quarterly, apart from a double number 9 & 10 (Jan. 1942) titled
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ran at a loss, with costs often met by
Crozier and Green, until it was forced to fold after the Winter issue of 1947 in which Crozier wrote;
1015:
659:
324:
American contributors to the magazine were servicemen stationed in New Guinea during the war who took their recreation leave in Australia;
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737:
163:. Due to the wartime shortages the magazine was printed on 23 cm brown wrapping paper by Bradley Printers of 40 Glenferrie Road,
1040:
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72:; the title set thus on each cover, with a small lower-case 'a' embedded within, most frequently, the all-capitals word 'COMMENT'.
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for seven years and the situation desolates me, but with so many little magazines the rocks of disaster always loom close.”
420:
809:
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393:
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235:
by Harris; Louis Thomas Dimes' three-page article under the pseudonym 'l'homme qui rit'; Joseph O'Dwyer; and
195:
25:
200:
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261:
421:
Hoffman, Frederick J. (Frederick John); Ulrich, Carolyn F. (Carolyn Farquhar); Allen, Charles (1947),
478:
184:
96:
284:
until its demise after 26 issues in 1947. He and Crozier married in July 1941 but soon separated.
139:"...the dispiriting atmosphere prevailing when Cecily Crozier took it into her head to launch her
199:, and during the 1930s and 40s inspired a Melbourne avant-garde. The covers, mostly linocuts by
68:
sometimes subtitled "A Journal of Poetry, Art, Literature and Social Comment" and soon retitled
683:
341:
299:
55:
Irvine Green (1941-2) Portrait of Cecily Crozier, photographic montage, tipped-in inclusion in
265:
454:. Vol. LIX, no. 20763. Western Australia. 18 October 1941. p. 6 (LATE SPORTS)
608:
881:
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Baedeker of a bachelor : the exotic adventures and bizarre journeys of a carefree man
8:
160:
912:
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426:
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164:
135:
In his memoir of the period, contributor to the magazine Alister Kershaw remarks on;
127:"Since the publication of “Art in Australia” had to cease because of paper-shortage,
244:
110:"Readers of modern literature, of the experimental kind, may like to know about
882:"William Van O'Connor Papers An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University"
277:
87:
cast the first stones, especially at its design, the reviewer having received a
77:
33:
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994:
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176:
106:
newspaper article about the January 1945 issue was headed "High-brows Only";
819:
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The magazine's editing was carried out at Crozier's home at 42 Bourke Road,
637:
Fifty books for fifty years : celebrating a half century of collecting
482:. No. 33, 702. New South Wales, Australia. 29 December 1945. p. 8
325:
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236:
44:
762:
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out four times a year. Believe me, my faithful readers, I have lived with
799:
635:
858:
834:
660:"Friday essay: the Melbourne bookshop that ignited Australian modernism"
207:
and others, austererly printed in only one or two colours, declared its
930:
764:
Hey days : memories and glimpses of Melbourne's Bohemia 1937- 1947
580:
Hey days : memories and glimpses of Melbourne's Bohemia 1937- 1947
248:
204:
172:
532:
906:
208:
189:
29:
36:. It ran to twenty-six, mostly quarterly, issues from 1940 to 1947.
804:(1st ed.). Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.
513:. No. 27, 997. Victoria, Australia. 13 January 1945. p. 7
276:
for most of the covers and his illustrations, and occasionally his
981:
784:
Alister Kershaw "A Temerarious Little Magazine of the 1940s" in:
509:
273:
269:
102:
51:
935:, vol. 17, Sydney: ABC, 1 October 1955, nla.obj-1423167049
738:"Dome at dusk: Cecily Crozier, Australia's forgotten modernist"
16:
Australian modernist avant-garde literary magazine of the 1940s
982:
David Rainey: Comment Publications archives some content from
75:
It appeared one month before its better known contemporary,
340:
and also William Van O'Connor, who after the war, on a
634:
Monash University. Library; Overell, Richard (2008),
183:, 166 Little Collins Street, near the “Paris End” of
28:
literary "little magazine" of the 1940s published in
856:
832:
423:The little magazine: a history and a bibliography
179:distributed it, and in Melbourne at Gino Nibbi's
992:
760:
576:
187:, an outlet for international magazines such as
363:“Dear Readers, This will probably be the last
203:, Robert Miller, Irvine Green, Decima McColl,
986:and summary of a late interview with Crozier
904:
425:(2nd ed.), Princeton University Press,
801:Poet : an autobiography in three parts
1046:Quarterly magazines published in Australia
788:, November vol. 30 no. 11 1986; (p. 57-59)
640:, Monash University Library, pp. 44–6
521:– via National Library of Australia.
490:– via National Library of Australia.
462:– via National Library of Australia.
396:in an essay on art magazines writes that;
239:. The poetry supplement contains works by
154:
1006:Literary magazines published in Australia
1036:Defunct magazines published in Australia
50:
43:
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717:Michael Treloar Antiquarian Booksellers
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908:Sense and sensibility in modern poetry
346:Sense and Sensibility in Modern Poetry
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1016:1947 disestablishments in Australia
684:"aCOMMENT covers in the Collection"
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24:was an early Australian modernist
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609:"From the desk of Cecily Crozier"
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342:Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship
328:, author of the autobiographical
280:photographs, appear regularly in
1041:Magazines published in Melbourne
1031:Magazines disestablished in 1947
1011:1940 establishments in Australia
632:Max Delany, "Art Magazines," in
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694:from the original on 2021-08-13
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563:G. M. Berger, "Modern Poetry,"
543:from the original on 2021-08-12
394:Monash University Museum of Art
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64:September that year published
905:O'Connor, William Van (1963).
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1:
1026:Magazines established in 1940
688:National Gallery of Australia
537:National Library of Australia
533:"Public List: Berger, George"
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767:, A. & R./ HarperCollins
583:, A. & R./ HarperCollins
7:
10:
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857:Roskolenko, Harry (1967),
833:Roskolenko, Harry (1952),
658:Rees, Yves (21 May 2020).
214:
39:
761:Kershaw, Alister (1991),
577:Kershaw, Alister (1991),
479:The Sydney Morning Herald
387:
351:
97:The Sydney Morning Herald
565:The Sydney Jewish News,
334:Baedecker of a Bachelor
155:Format and distribution
911:. Barnes & Noble.
798:Shapiro, Karl (1988).
742:State Library Victoria
406:
392:Max Delany, director,
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149:
133:
116:
93:
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48:
1051:Avant-garde magazines
1001:Australian literature
719:. www.bibliopolis.com
567:Friday 4 Jun 1943 p.7
398:
361:
332:; Harry Roskolenko (
266:aerial reconnaissance
251:, Shapiro and Dimes.
137:
125:
108:
89:
54:
47:
613:Art Guide Australia
474:"BOOKS OF THE WEEK"
446:"Ways of the World"
243:('Orchestration'),
264:and was posted in
169:A new year comment
61:
49:
1021:Modernist writers
943:– via Trove
505:"High-brows Only"
432:978-3-527-30506-3
233:The Place of Love
201:William Constable
181:Leonardo Art Shop
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120:Jewish News
118:The Sydney
26:avant-garde
995:Categories
965:2021-08-12
932:ABC Weekly
891:2021-08-12
747:2021-08-11
723:2021-08-12
698:2021-08-13
669:2021-08-12
619:2021-08-11
547:2021-08-12
409:References
313:Max Harris
249:Joy Hester
205:Eric Thake
196:transition
173:Carl Plate
84:Daily News
939:10 August
917:575741646
867:11 August
843:11 August
771:11 August
644:11 August
587:11 August
517:12 August
486:13 August
458:13 August
404:desire…’.
293:Alec King
278:tipped-in
209:Modernist
190:Minotaure
129:A Comment
112:A Comment
30:Melbourne
984:aCOMMENT
820:17651234
786:Quadrant
692:Archived
541:Archived
357:aCOMMENT
344:, wrote
282:aCOMMENT
274:linocuts
270:woodcuts
220:aCOMMENT
161:Oakleigh
70:aCOMMENT
66:Comment,
59:issue 12
57:aCOMMENT
21:aCOMMENT
510:The Age
401:Comment
377:Comment
373:Comment
369:Comment
365:Comment
229:Comment
224:Comment
215:Content
211:ethos.
165:Malvern
145:Comment
141:Comment
103:The Age
40:History
915:
818:
808:
429:
388:Legacy
352:Demise
941:2021
913:OCLC
869:2021
845:2021
816:OCLC
806:ISBN
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646:2021
589:2021
519:2021
488:2021
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336:and
272:and
262:RAAF
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