A Voyage to Terra Australis, undertaken for the Purpose of completing the Discovery of that Vast Country, and prosecuted in the years 1801, 1802, and 1803, in His Majesty's Ship the 'Investigator', and subsequently in the Armed Vessel 'Porpoise' and 'Cumberland' Schooner. With an Account of the Shipwreck of the 'Porpoise', Arrival of the 'Cumberland' at Mauritius, and Imprisonment of the Commander during six years and a half in that Island
Adelaide, Government Printer, 1989 (facsimile edition)/ 1814.
Large quarto, two volumes of text plus the elephant folio atlas (containing 18 charts and 10 plates); some relevant ephemera is loosely inserted.
Half dark blue calf and cream cloth; cloth on the front cover of the atlas slightly marked in one small spot; a near-fine set in the near-fine dark red felt-covered wooden storage box (lightly scuffed and marked).
A superb production, limited to only 500 numbered sets (this set is number 131). The storage box is designed with a matching two-door lid opening at the centre, and attached to the base with piano hinges. About a third of the edition was issued in these boxes, as originally advertised; this set is one of them. Apparently the successful tender was paid in full before the job was completed - not all the lids were supplied or fitted - and the box-maker was last seen heading for the hills (overseas) with the money and a big smile! The problem with the majority of the boxes was 'solved' by commissioning clear perspex lids which fitted snugly over the custom-made bases.
Item #144538
Price (AUD):
$2,000.00