Small octavo (220 x 140 mm), 204 pages, with five illustrations and a frontispiece map, printed on Raleigh Tomohawk Text; hand bound by Newbold & Collins in quarter cherry Scottish calf.

Small octavo (220 x 140 mm), 204 pages, with five illustrations and a frontispiece map, printed on Raleigh Tomohawk Text; hand bound by Newbold & Collins in quarter cherry Scottish calf.

A Voyage Round the World in His Majesty's Frigate Pandora is one of the rarest and least known eighteenth-century publications relating to Bligh's infamous mutiny on the Bounty. Now for the first time since 1793, this book has been faithfully reproduced complete with the frontispiece portrait of Hamilton, and enriched by modern scholarship, as part of the Australian Maritime Series.

The story of the Pandora - the ship which was sent to recover the Bounty and to bring the mutineers to justice - is almost unknown to the modern public. Yet the story 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.