antiquarian bookseller - Peter Harrington

Peter Harrington Antiquarian Bookseller
212.AMUNDSEN, Roald.
106
The South Pole an account of the
Norwegian expedition in the “Fram”
1910–1912. Translated from the
Norwegian by A. G. Chater with
maps and numerous illustrations.
London, John Murray, 1912 [37050] £2500
2 volumes, 8vo. Publisher’s burgundy cloth, gilt titles and
flag motif to spines, red rule and flag motif to front boards,
top edge gilt. 158 photographic illustrations on 103 plates,
numerous other illustration plans and charts, 2 folding maps at
the rear of each volume. Free endpapers browned, otherwise
an unusually nice set, with only minor shelf-wear.
FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH, first impression. The English
edition contains 10 photographic plates not found in the
Norwegian original.
213.BLIGH, William.
A Voyage to the South Sea,
undertaken by command of
His Majesty, for the purpose of
conveying the bread-fruit tree to the
West Indies, in His Majesty’s Ship
The Bounty … including an account
of the mutiny on board the said
ship, and the subsequent voyage of
part of the crew, in the ship’s boat…
London: for George Nicol, 1792 [26941] £12,500
4to (292 × 233 mm). Contemporary half calf, neatly rebacked
and recornered to style retaining old red spine label. Stippleengraved
oval portrait frontispiece of Bligh by Conde after
Russell, folding plan of the Bounty, folding plan of the Bounty’s
launch, plate of a breadfruit, and 4 plans and charts (3 folding).
Small circular inkstamp on front free endpaper. A little
offsetting from plates, small circular brown stain affecting a
few leaves below the text towards the middle of the book, but
overall a very good clean and well-margined copy.
FIRST EDITION of Blight’s own full account of his voyage
which led to the most famous mutiny in the history of
the sea. In mid-1787 Bligh received the command of the
Bounty, then being fitted to transport breadfruit and other
plants from the South Seas to the West Indies, part of an
elaborate scheme to establish large-scale cotton cultivation
in the West Indies by transplanting breadfruit and other
fruits and vegetables so that plantation owners might feed
slaves more cheaply. The Bounty reached Tahiti, loaded up
with breadfruit, and set sail again at the beginning of
April 1789. In the early morning of 28 April 1789, when off
the island of Tonga, Fletcher Christian led part of the crew
in mutiny. The rebels set Bligh and eighteen men adrift in
the ship’s 23 foot long launch, with little food and only
minimal navigational tools. Incredibly Bligh managed to
reach Kupang in Timor two months later with the loss
of only one man, after a harrowing 3500 mile voyage.
Embarrassingly Bligh found himself having to defend his
own conduct. He had already published a shorter Narrative
of the Mutiny in 1790. The Advertisement explains that
“the reason of the Narrative appearing first, was for the
purpose of communicating early information concerning
an event which attracted the public notice: and being
drawn up in a hasty manner, it required many corrections.”
This is the first appearance of Bligh’s account of the entire
expedition. It did not achieve his aim of rehabilitating his
reputation, which was later further damaged by another
mutiny and other serious insubordinations. History’s
verdict has overwhelmingly been that Bligh was clearly a
superior navigator and a brave man, but an abysmal leader
otherwise. Interestingly, it was his habit of intemperate
verbal abuse that upset his subordinates: research has
shown that Bligh actually flogged less than any other
British commander in the Pacific in the later 18th century.
Hill 135 (“An extremely important book”); Howgego B107; NMM, Voyages
& Travel, 624; Sabin 5910.
214.(BLIGH, William)
MACKANESS, George.
The Life of Vice-Admiral William
Bligh, R.N., F.R.S.
Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1931 [38284] £275
2 vols. 8vo. Portrait frontispiece to each and 45 other plates,
one of them double-page, folding chart at the rear of vol. II.
Endpapers differentially browned, otherwise a remarkably
bright set in the original green cloth, title gilt to spines, in later
issue dustjackets, just a little rubbed and with mild chipping
head and tail of the spines. A handsome set.
FIRST EDITION of this authoritative biography, notable for
its massive assemblage of documentary material. Aside
from his writing and teaching, Mackaness was a bibliophile
who made the collecting of Australiana popular.
Peter Harrington
antiquarian bookseller
Catalogue 57: Travel
Section 1:
World Voyages & Compilations
Items 1-22; pages 2-17
Section 2:
Africa and the Middle East to Persia
Items 23-95; pages 18-53
Section 3:
The Americas, Greenland and the
Arctic
Items 96-141; pages 54-77
Section 4:
Asia including Russia
Items 142-211; pages 78-105
Section 5:
Australia and Antarctica
Items 212-232 pages 106-117
Section 6:
Europe, including Constantinople
Items 233-276; pages 118-139
Section 7:
Mapping, Navigation and Naval
History
Items 277-331; pages 140-169
Index; pages 170-171
107