The Mines of South Australia, including also an Account of the Smelting Works in that Colony; together with a Brief Description of the Country, and Incidents of Travel in the Bush
Adelaide, C. Platts, E.S. Wigg, G. Dehane (and others), 1863.
Octavo, 109, [19] (advertisements) pages plus advertisements on three surfaces of the covers.
Original burnt orange wrappers with the full title page details repeated on the front cover; joints splitting a little top and bottom, but still firm; plain spine slightly bumped at the ends and a little chipped; bottom edge of the front cover a little chipped, with a small piece missing from the bottom left-hand corner; minimal signs of age and use; overall, an excellent copy.
In the preface, the author states that 'About four months were occupied in visiting the Mines and collecting information, and during this time I travelled about 1,800 miles, chiefly on horseback'. 'First Edition of Three Thousand' and 'Illustrated by a Map' are printed on the title page and front wrapper. The list of 173 subscribers accounts for 1200 copies. We have previously handled a copy in original stippled cloth with a large folding map (635 × 420 mm), but this undisturbed copy in wrappers has clearly never had a map bound in. Ferguson 6183, referring only to the edition in wrappers, states that the map is loose. The first half-page advertisement after the text is one for Austin himself; the line and a half relating to Scrutton of London have been ruled out in ink, presumably by the author himself.
Item #132869
Price (AUD):
$750.00