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, commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh. 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, from Tofoa, one of the friendly islands, to Timor, a Dutch settlement in the East Indies... London: printed for George Nicol..., 1792. First edition. Period diced russia with a border of a palmate roll in blind surrounded by three gilt rules neatly rebacked to style, all edge marbled, in a modern cloth slipcase and chemise. 11 5/8 x 9 inches (29.5 x 23 cm); [x], 264 pp., portrait and 3 engraved plates (2 folding) and 4 engraved maps and charts (3 folding). As noted, rebacked, retaining the spine of an earlier rebacking, binding somewhat worn and refurbished, some foxing and toning to the plates, in all an attractive copy. The chemise with the bookplate of Richard Bayard Dominick.

The classic account of Bligh's breadfruit voyage and its aftermath. Bligh was a sailing master on HM Resolution, serving under Cook on his final voyage, and his charting and surveying was published alongside Cook's journals. Sir Joseph Banks had recommended Bligh for the commander of the voyage, which was intended to carry breadfruit plants from Tahiti to the West Indies, with the hope that they would prove food for the slaves on the sugar plantations. After leaving Tahiti with the breadfruit plants, Bligh's friend and protégé Fletcher Christian fomented a mutiny, after which Bligh was forced to navigate with his small party in the Bounty's open launch, in an epic piece of seamanship that saw them safely to Batavia (where several of the survivors died after arrival from disease or the privations experienced on the voyage). ESTC T52638; Sabin 5910; Hill 135; Ferguson 125.