For the Term of his Natural Life (ePub)

serialised his first novel Long Odds, of which some chapters were written by G. A. Walstab, one of his most intimate friends. The work appeared in book form in 1869.

In 1868 he began to write for the Melbourne Punch and a year later brought out a rival comic paper Humbug which, however, only lasted three months. In 1871 he contracted with the pub­lishers of the Australian Journal to write a story on the system of penal transportation which had been practised by the British Government during the first half of the 19th century. Having received an advance payment, he went to Tasmania to improve his health and to study, on the spot, the surroundings of the old convict settlements. The result was For the Term of His Natural Life, the one and only work with which he established his name in world literature. It first appeared serially (in a most dilatory fashion) in the Australian Journal between March 1871 and June 1872. It was brought out in book form, much shortened and improved, in 1874 and was later published in London, America, Germany and many other countries.

In 1870 he was made clerk to the trustees of the public library in Melbourne, and in 1873 became sub-librarian. However, he spent most of his time in literary work of the most varied kind, from psychology to pantomime. He was deeply disappointed when, in 1880, on the death of the librarian, he was not chosen to succeed to the post. A year later the trustees requested his resignation on account of his insolvency. His health had been poor for a number of years, and this final blow broke his spirit and his will to live. He died suddenly on August 2nd 1881.

In the course of fourteen years of literary activity, Marcus Clarke wrote (apart from the two novels already mentioned) about thirty minor tales, a dozen plays (dramas, comedies, burlesques, and adaptations), pantomimes, pamphlets and many critical and satirical sketches and essays. Among his works may be mentioned Plot, a sensational drama produced successfully at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne in 1873; an adaptation of Moliere's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme; a pantomime called Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star; also a collection of stories, Holiday Peak.