Richard Neville; Richard Walsh; Martin Sharp
Sydney: Oz Publications Ink, 1963-1970.

The foundational Australian edition of Oz, edited by Richard Neville, Richard Walsh, and Martin Sharp and published in Sydney between 1963 and 1969, with the reduced-format fortnightly newsletters continuing into 1970 under Walsh and Dean Letcher. Preceding and inspiring the the better-known London Oz (1967-1973), the Australian edition tackled censorship, homosexuality, police corruption, the White Australia policy, and the Vietnam War, provoking a series of obscenity prosecutions, culminating in a 1964 conviction that was later overturned on appeal. Sharp’s covers and illustrations, ranging from early satirical cartooning to full psychedelic intensity, chart his emergence as one of Australia’s most significant pop artists. Complete in 41 issues of the magazine proper, together with a complete set of the rarely seen newsletters (Nos. 42-82) including the election special (No. 56). A high point of Australian underground publishing.