Item #114070 A Narrative of the Mutiny on board His Majesty's Ship 'Bounty'; and the Subsequent Voyage of Part of the Crew, in the Ship's Boat, from Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch Settlement in the East Indies. Lieutenant William BLIGH.
A Narrative of the Mutiny on board His Majesty's Ship 'Bounty'; and the Subsequent Voyage of Part of the Crew, in the Ship's Boat, from Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch Settlement in the East Indies
A Narrative of the Mutiny on board His Majesty's Ship 'Bounty'; and the Subsequent Voyage of Part of the Crew, in the Ship's Boat, from Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch Settlement in the East Indies
A Narrative of the Mutiny on board His Majesty's Ship 'Bounty'; and the Subsequent Voyage of Part of the Crew, in the Ship's Boat, from Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch Settlement in the East Indies
A Narrative of the Mutiny on board His Majesty's Ship 'Bounty'; and the Subsequent Voyage of Part of the Crew, in the Ship's Boat, from Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch Settlement in the East Indies
A Narrative of the Mutiny on board His Majesty's Ship 'Bounty'; and the Subsequent Voyage of Part of the Crew, in the Ship's Boat, from Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch Settlement in the East Indies

A Narrative of the Mutiny on board His Majesty's Ship 'Bounty'; and the Subsequent Voyage of Part of the Crew, in the Ship's Boat, from Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch Settlement in the East Indies

London, Printed for George Nicol, 1790.

Quarto, iv, 88 pages plus a folding plan ('A Copy of the Draught from which the Bounty's Launch was built'), and 3 charts (2 folding and on pale blue paper).

Modern half morocco and marbled papered boards (by Bayntun-Riviere); early ink inscription ('John Taylor Jun. to the Tavistock Public Library, Sep 23 1800') at the head of the title page, with similar details on the verso; large folding 'Track of the Bounty's Launch' a little creased and now bound in as the frontispiece; three plates have the library's initials 'T.P.L.' and a single-digit number (very) unobtrusively in ink on them; restoration to the corner of one leaf (H2) with no loss to the text; marginal soiling to one page, and small inkstains to the last one; minor signs of use and age, but overall a very good copy.

The first edition of Bligh's account of the mutiny, and his subsequent voyage in the ship's launch with eighteen loyal crewmen. 'In their small boat Bligh and his companions made a remarkable journey of more than three and a half thousand miles from Tofoa to Timor in six weeks over largely uncharted waters. What is not so well known is that in the course of this hazardous journey Bligh took the opportunity to chart and name parts of the unknown north-east coast of New Holland as he passed along it - an extraordinary feat of seamanship ... [An] interesting addition to any library of Australian books, not only for the direct Australian interest of Bligh's coastal discoveries while navigating in the open boat, but also because of Bligh's later dramatic association with New South Wales as governor' (Wantrup).

Ferguson 71; Wantrup 61.

Item #114070

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