A handsome copy of the first edition: the foundation book of European settlement in Australia.

A handsome copy of the first edition: the foundation book of European settlement in Australia.

Based on the governor's journals and despatches and assembled into book form by the London publisher Stockdale, this is - as the official account of the first settlement - the single most important book to describe the journey to Botany Bay and the foundations of modern Australia. It describes the events from March 1787, just before the First Fleet sailed from the Isle of Wight, up to September 1788. There is a chapter dealing with the fauna of New South Wales, appendices detailing the routes of various ships to Botany Bay, from Botany Bay to Norfolk Island and from Port Jackson to various other ports, and finally a list of convicts sent to New South Wales. The book also contains some excellent maps by John Hunter and William Dawes, including the first of the Sydney Cove settlement, which shows in detail the buildings and "progress" which had been made by July 1788.

Davidson summarises the importance of this volume: 'Being the authentic record of first settlement the work's importance cannot be over-emphasised, and no collection [of Australiana] can be complete without a copy', and Wantrup notes that 'as a detailed and officially sanctioned account of the new colony, the first edition of Stockdale's Phillip is a key work and essential to any serious collection of Australian books'.