One of 50 copies of the deluxe issue, bound in full polished calf, and signed by Peter Gesner.

One of 50 copies of the deluxe issue, bound in full polished calf, and signed by Peter Gesner.

This is a faithful facsimile of A Voyage Round the World in His Majesty's Frigate Pandora, the rare and important contemporary publication relating to Bligh and the mutiny on the Bounty. This publication, number four in the Australian Maritime Series and long out of print, reproduced the book for the first time since 1793, complete with the frontispiece portrait of Hamilton, with the addition of modern scholarship.

The story of the Pandora, the ship which was sent to recover the Bounty and to bring the mutineers to justice, rivals even that of Bligh's mutiny on the Bounty for drama and tragedy. George Hamilton, with a light and humorous touch, not only brought to life conditions on board an eighteenth-century ship, he provided the vital clue that led modern-day archaeologists to the location of the deeply submerged wreck. On page 108 of the book Hamilton recorded - "A sandy key, four miles off, and about thirty paces long, afforded us a resting place" - and these words led a team of archaeologists in 1977 to select several coral outcrops as a primary search area within the Great Barrier Reef opening known as Pandora Entrance. The significance of this detail ensures that Hamilton's Account will forever play a crucial role in one of the most important marine archaeological sites in the southern hemisphere.

As Peter Gesner, Curator of Marine Archaeology at the Queensland Museum and leading expert on the Pandora shipwreck, said, "There, below the reef, within touch, was an almost intact time capsule of the eighteenth century. I dived inside and it was a little like entering a room that had been undisturbed for 200 years". The amazing story of surgeon George Hamilton and the Pandora voyage is thoroughly covered in Peter Gesner's essay which accompanies this facsimile of Hamilton's narrative.