A Voyage Around the World in Her Majesty's Frigate Pandora.
Sydney: Hordern House, 1998. Tall octavo, hardcover, hand bound in quarter cherry Scottish calf leather with marbled paper, gilt lettering on spine, frontispiece, 37 pp. (foreword and essay - illustrated with some black-and-white photographs), followed by 164 pp. with frontispiece of a facsimile reprint of the original edition published in London by Berwick in 1793. Spotting on all edges of text block, leather on spine slightly marked, otherwise a near-fine copy. 1998 first edition. One of a limited edition of 950 copies, marbled papers designed by Margo Snape. This facsimile reprint of Hamilton's work was commissioned by the Australian Maritime Museum and is volume four in its Australian Maritime Series. Included is an essay by Peter Gesner (Director of the Queensland Museum's Pandora Project), about Hamilton's voyage in the Pandora, a story almost unknown to the modern public.
George Hamilton was the ship's doctor on the Pandora. Through his account of the voyage, the reader learns the ship was sent on a three-month search to recover the infamous Bounty and bring the mutineer's to justice. Hamilton details the search (which extended far beyond three months), the clues discovered, the disappointments, the demise of the ship after an encounter with the Great Barrier Reef, and the eventual rescue of the surviving 89 crew and 10 mutineers. Aside from being a highly readable account of the voyage, Hamilton's account sheds a different light on Bligh's version of the mutiny and his status as hero. Item #4786
Price (AUD): $150.00