Narrative of an Expedition into Central Australia…
London: T. and W. Boone, 1849.
Two volumes, octavo, with folding map and fifteen plates including six lithographs (both chromolithographic and handcoloured), partially unopened; original blind blocked green cloth with gilt lettering; apart from some light-coloured spotting to the cloth sides an excellent set, complete with the publisher's advertisements.
First issue, in the original cloth
First edition, first issue, with the three advertisement leaves for Lort Stokes, Leichhardt and Melville noted by Wantrup.
First edition, first issue, with the three advertisement leaves for Lort Stokes, Leichhardt and Melville noted by Wantrup.
A well preserved set in original green cloth, of Charles Sturt's last expedition to Coopers Creek and the Simpson Desert. His journey into the harsh interior of the continent was one for which he had petitioned over many years. One of its most important results was the final (and most reluctant) abandonment of any hope for the discovery of an inland sea. Sturt and his party of fifteen suffered dreadfully. They were trapped at Preservation Creek in the Grey Range for nearly six oppressive months after summer heat dried up all water in the surrounding country. The party was ravaged by scurvy, losing its second-in-command, and Sturt himself survived the return journey by using Aboriginal food sources. He received the rarely awarded gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society.
This work is noteworthy for its detailed and engaging plates, some of which were engraved from field sketches by Sturt himself. The four attractive chromolithographic plates are after natural history studies by John Gould and Henry Constantine Richter.
Ferguson, 5202; Wantrup, 119.