Scarce Hobart-printed work on convicts and gaols published in 1838. The author, considered a forefather of modern theories of imprisonment, argues against the brutality of incarceration. Maconochie's direct style gives a marvellous introduction to the subject and the book is full of interesting evidence and anecdotes based on his own observations.

Scarce Hobart-printed work on convicts and gaols published in 1838. The author, considered a forefather of modern theories of imprisonment, argues against the brutality of incarceration. Maconochie's direct style gives a marvellous introduction to the subject and the book is full of interesting evidence and anecdotes based on his own observations.

Maconochie joined the Royal Navy at the age of 16 and served with distinction in the Napoleonic Wars. A career naval officer, his long and varied career included four years as superintendent of the Norfolk Island penal settlement. In 1838 he published this account critical of the treatment of convicts, proposing radical changes to the existing system. Maconochie believed that imprisoning people as a form of retribution was not only reprehensible but also ineffective. To this end he argued that prisoners should not receive fixed sentences, but earn their release upon completion of set tasks and evidence of moral regeneration.

The sheets of this book were printed in Hobart in 1838; some were sent to London for a separate issue of 1839 with a different title. This Hobart-printed and published work is much preferred, and this copy has the interesting half-title which reads simply "Australiana" - was the book intended as part of a longer series?