First edition of the first authentic and surely the most widely read and the most quoted of the First Fleet books: this is an exceptional copy in remarkable condition, as issued, absolutely complete and in the original plain blue wrappers, just as it would have come from the presses in the first days of April 1789.

First edition of the first authentic and surely the most widely read and the most quoted of the First Fleet books: this is an exceptional copy in remarkable condition, as issued, absolutely complete and in the original plain blue wrappers, just as it would have come from the presses in the first days of April 1789.

Not only a standard work but now a recognised classic of Australian literature of any stripe, Tench's book has been called "at once the most perceptive and the most literary of the contemporary accounts" (ADB). Few writers have matched the directness of his description of life in the first days of the colony and none his talent for eyewitness reportage.

Tench (1758-1833) had joined the Royal Marines in 1776 and served in the American Revolutionary War. Like many of his peers, he had been at home on half-pay for a few months when he volunteered for New South Wales. Well-read and well-connected (especially in theatrical circles), the evidence suggests that he had a publishing deal with Debrett's even before he sailed, writing this free-ranging and insightful account explicitly for publication.

Apart from its importance as the first genuine description of the new colony, Tench's narrative provides us with the clearest of the surviving images of the first crucial months of settlement. He signed the preface "Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, New South Wales, July 10, 1788," just before the first ships sailed for home.

When they arrived in England there was a minor rush among publishers to print detailed and "authentic" notices of life in Botany Bay, as the new colony was still usually called. It has now been conclusively shown that Tench's book was being advertised in the press within days and was actually being sold by 4 April, a scant fortnight after the ships returned, for the relatively modest price of 3s. 6d.

In our experience, Tench's Narrative has proved to be one of the more difficult of the First Fleet books to find, most particularly with both the first and final leaves (half-title and advertisement) present, since both were often discarded by binders. This copy is not only complete but remains in the publisher's simple wrappered binding, representing a very rare opportunity to acquire this important work in the way Tench's contemporaries would have read it.

Tench clearly had the instincts of a reporter, providing a crisp and reliable account of the dramatic voyage out, an unparalleled expedition rich in human drama, as well as the first six months ashore, a period of the greatest interest for the prospects of the entire colony. Unlike many of his contemporaries, nor did he concentrate only on the bigger picture, but gave personal details of the local natural history, their interactions – at that stage very tentative – with the local men and women, and also some sense of the convicts themselves (a subject which other books rather drew a veil over).

Tench and his publisher must have guessed that although there would surely be an official account of the voyage published, that a simple unillustrated octavo could be in the bookshops months before a grander quarto could hope to appear – in the event, Governor Phillip's book, teased in the newspapers for months, only reached the bookshops in December 1789.

Even more, some of Tench's other friends had already published long letters by him in the newspapers of late March, effectively running a guerrilla marketing campaign: to great effect, it should be added, as Tench's name became synonymous with accurate and entertaining reportage. Due to the high demand a second edition of the Narrative was issued less than three weeks later on 24 April, and a third, updated, edition in August. A Dublin piracy, as well as French, German, Swedish and Dutch translations all appeared quickly.

Tench's writing was fresh, immediate and cultured, with most readers apparently agreeing with the Monthly Review, which called it "very satisfactory … an interesting narrative." The same issue of the Monthly Review also recorded their opinion that Tench's book greatly outshone two of the other unsanctioned accounts then being rushed out.

During his time in Sydney Tench played an important role in the early exploration of the entire region, not least tracing the Nepean River to the Hawkesbury and making an attempt to conquer the Blue Mountains. Yet his most important role in the history of the convict settlement at Sydney Cove was as a writer who spread information for the general public in Britain while preserving important details for posterity. He was a lively, good-humoured and cultured member of the new society, and these qualities come through in his book.