A Lecture on South Australia; including Letters from J.B. Hack, Esq. and other Emigrants. Delivered before the Members of the Chichester Mechanics' Institution, Nov. 27, 1837 ... Second Edition, with an Appendix, containing the Regulations of the Commissioners, Dietary for Free Emigrants, &c
London, Sold by J. Gliddon, 3, Austin Friars, and W.H. Mason, Chichester, 1838 (second edition)/ [1838?].
Octavo, [ii], 30 pages.
Later plain wrappers a little chipped and creased; first and last pages tanned and a little marked; corners a little worn and creased; mild signs of age and use (and one bifolium is neatly detached); a decent copy of a rare item.
A dozen pages are given over to the letters from emigrants, including nine from the brothers Hack, written between February and August 1837. The first one, from Glenelg on 20 February, less than two months after the arrival of the first settlers, sets the tone: 'The natives are only too friendly: a family called this morning; they seem very good natured. I breakfasted this morning on damper [a definition is supplied in a footnote] and parrot, regular bush-fare; the parrot was capital eating. I hope we shall be fortunate enough to shoot some daily'. Ferguson 2668 (noting printed wrappers; he also records that the 'first edition has not been seen', and suggests that its first appearance might have been in an English magazine in January 1838).
Item #109131
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