AN HISTORICAL JOURNAL OF THE TRANSACTIONS AT PORT JACKSON AND NORFOLK ISLAND. INCLUDING THE JOURNALS OF GOVERNORS PHILLIP AND KING, SINCE THE PUBLICATION OF PHILLIP'S VOYAGE. WITH AN ABRIDGED ACCOUNT OF THE NEW DISCOVERIES IN THE SOUTH SEAS. By John Hunter, ESQR, POST CAPTAIN IN HIS MAJESTY'S NAVY. TO WHICH IS PREFIXED A LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. . . LONDON: PRINTED FOR JOHN STOCKDALE . . .1793. Octavo. XXI, [4], 18-525 pp. plus 3 pages of ads. COMPLETE, with frontispiece portrait, illustrated engraved title page, folding map and folding plate by William Blake. See ESTC N33298. 

19th Century half calf binding with marbled boards, raised bands and gilt title labels. Scuffing and wear. Light tanning and very light scattered foxing, light offsetting from plates. Tightly bound. Lighter compartment on spine might be where an additional label was mounted. Glue residue on pastedowns probably from bookplates. Very Good. See pictures.

Note in pencil on free endpaper by previous owner makes note of the fact that some of the title page type elements used for the quarto edition were repurposed for the 8vo, but were too big and therefore affected by final trimming. Apparently all 8vo copies have this quirk to one degree or another. In this copy bits of the title and date have been trimmed off.

Before becoming vice-admiral and the second governor of the colony of New South Wales after Arthur Phillip, Captain John Hunter was an avid sailor, explorer and scholar who made extensive explorations of the New South Wales area and was the first to sumise that Tasmania might be an island.  His first expedition there was significant because it may have marked the first contact to take place between the British and the indigenous owners of the land, the Wangal Clan. His journal details his experiences at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island and offers an early glimpse of English settlement in this part of the world.

Of special note: The folding plate of the aboriginal family is engraved by the famous English poet and artist William Blake.

This is the rather scarce 8vo edition published in the same year (1793) as the larger quarto edition.

Clipping tipped in on front pastedown by a previous book dealer or owner is the description of a similar book but not this one, as this one is not "uncut."

If you have questions, please ask.