80/2896 Bligh, W. A Voyage to the South Sea, undertaken by Command of His Majesty, for the Purpose of Conveying the Bread-Fruit Tree to the West-Indies, on His Majesty's Ship The Bounty (...). Including an Account of the Mutiny on Board the Said Ship, and the Subsequent Voyage of Part of the Crew, in the Ship's Boat, from Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch Settlement in the East Indis. London, G. Nicol, 1792/ 1790, 1st ed., 3 parts in 1 vol., (10),153; (4),88; 246-264p., engr. frontisp. portrait, 6 (5x fold.) maps/ charts (the 2 maps in the section of the Narrative of the Mutiny are printed on light blueish paper), 1 fold. plate, contemp. gilt calf w. gilt spine w. (later) green mor. letterpiece, in custom-made tan cloth chemise in matching slipcase w. red mor. letterpiece by J. MACDONALD, sm. folio (314 x 243 mm.).

- Fine copy. Occas. trifle foxed and occas. light offsetting from the plates. Neatly rebacked w. the original backstrip (hardly visible).

= One of very few copies of the first edition specially printed and issued to include the "Narrative of the Mutiny" with the 1790 title-page and with separate pagination. It opens with the first part of the first edition of the account of A Voyage to the South Sea, which breaks off at the end of chapter XII, after p.153, and is followed by the first edition of 1790 of A Narrative of the Mutiny, on board of His Majesty's Ship Bounty (with title-p. dated 1790, and pagination as follows: IV,1-88) and is concluded by the final part of A Voyage to the South Sea, which opens with chapter XIX (p.246-264). Chapters XIII-XVIII are thus replaced by the Narrative of the Mutiny. This first version of the Narrative was published during Bligh's absence when he was on his second voyage to the South Sea, and was written and edited from Bligh's journal by James Burney under supervision of Joseph Banks. A second version was included in the first edition of the official 1792 report.

On the Narrative of the Mutiny see Kroepelien 87; Sabin 5908a; Ferguson 126; Hill 132; Howgego p.124-126; O'Reilly/ Reitman 543; Henze I, p.275. "One of the most remarkable incidents in the whole of maritime history" (Hill) took place after leaving Tahiti near Kotu Island on 27.4.1789. Bligh was set by Fletcher Christian with 18 loyal seamen in the small ship's launch. A six weeks journey, more than 3000 miles, led to Timor. Even during this voyage Bligh was capable of doing a large number of valuable cartographic and scientific observations.

"Bligh presented copies to the Lords of the Admiralty and other influential people in the hope that his account of the mutiny would absolve him from any blame that might be leveled against him because of the incident. (...) Bligh, known in the British navy as "Bread-Fruit Bligh", made two voyages to the South Pacific to transport this product to the British West Indies. During the first voyage he was in command of the ill-fated Bounty (1787-1790); during the second he was commander of the Providence (1791-1793). He had earlier served under Captain Cook, as sailing master on Cook's third voyage around the world. In 1805, Bligh was appointed governor of New South Wales, but from 1808 to 1810 he was imprisoned by rebellious soldiers. He was promoted to admiral in 1811." (Hill). "Seine Charaktermängel waren Eitelkeit, Heftigkeit und Hochmut; seine Bedeutung als Nautiker und Entdecker bleibt unbestritten." (Henze). Provenance: William Lloyd, Aston, 1806 (armorial bookplate). SEE ILLUSTRATION PLATE CII.