An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, with Remarks on the Dispositions, Customs, Manners, &c. of the Native Inhabitants of that Country. To which are added, some Particulars of New Zealand, compiled, by permission, from the MSS. of Lieutenant-Governor King
London, Printed by A. Strahan for T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies, 1798 and 1802 (both first editions).
Quarto, two volumes, [iii]-xx, xxxviii, [2], 618, [2] (list of plates) pages with 4 engravings in the text plus 2 maps (one folding) and 18 engraved plates (two with tissue-guards); and [iii]-xvi, 336 pages with 4 engravings in the text (2 hand-coloured) plus a map and 5 engraved plates (3 hand-coloured).
Bound without the half-titles in matching modern quarter calf and marbled boards, all edges speckled; covers slightly scuffed, with the leather mottled; scattered light foxing and browning (a little heavier in Volume 1); small hole to the centre of one leaf in Volume 1 (3 O 1), affecting a handful of words; folding map cleaned; unobtrusive marginal stain to a handful of leaves and one plate ('Plan & Elevation of a Church') in Volume 2; overall an excellent set of the first editions of the most detailed of the First Fleet journals.
David Collins was Judge-Advocate in the new colony, and secretary to Governor Phillip, and was thus 'in a perfect position to compile a detailed and informed record of all important transactions in the colony ... In an appendix he reports his own intelligent, sensitive and compassionate observations of Aboriginal life and customs' (Wantrup). The first volume includes important early views of Sydney and Parramatta, and striking scenes of Aboriginal ceremonies, from sketches by convict artist Thomas Watling. 'The second volume is of the greatest importance, not only for its detailed chronicle of events but because of its narrative of voyages and expeditions of discovery ... The journals of Bass and Flinders are of particular importance since Bass's journal has never been recovered and ... the accounts of inland expeditions recorded in the journals of John Price and Henry Hacking are singularly interesting. Quite apart from the exploration interest of these journals, they provide the first report of the existence of the koala, the earliest recorded sighting of a wombat on mainland Australia and the first report of the discovery of the lyrebird, which is for the first time described and illustrated in colour' (Wantrup). The full title of this second volume is 'An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, from its First Settlement, in January 1788, to August 1801, with Remarks on the Dispositions, Customs, Manners, &c. of the Native Inhabitants of that Country. To which are added, some Particulars of New Zealand, compiled, by permission, from the MSS. of Lieutenant-Governor King; and an Account of a Voyage performed by Captain Flinders and Mr. Bass; by which the Existence of a Strait separating Van Dieman's Land from the Continent of New Holland was ascertained. Abstracted from the Journal of Mr. Bass'. Ferguson 263 and 350; Wantrup 19 and 20. [2 items].
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