Icilio Martich-Severi (1920-1999) came to Australia in the 1950s from Fiume (an Austro-Hungarian port city now annexed by Italy). It wasn’t easy for the young artist whose creative endeavors included sculpture, poetry and painting. He believed that life is art and that it mattered less ‘what you do’ than ‘how you do it’.  This was his starting point.  He could see the beauty of a single flower among the weeds or in a single loving gesture. He read his own poetry at the Australian National University and his work has been exhibited in Sydney galleries. This volume is illustrated with black and white reproductions of his artwork.  Despite a lot of mileage in cyberspace, we can’t find out much more about this enigmatic man –  we contacted relatives, one or two bloggers and art galleries and received no response from any. The publishing house that printed this volume no longer exists and while it is advertised in Google searches as being available from a Mr I.M. Severi of Oatley, no-one by that name now lives at the listed address. Suffice it to say this is an extremely rare volume  and moreover, is autographed by Icilio.