An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales:

with Remarks on the Dispositions, Customs, Manners,&c. of the Native Inhabitants of that Country. To which are added some Particulars of New Zealand; compiled by permission from the Mss. of Lieutenant-Governor King. First edition. Two volumes. 2 maps, 2 charts (1 folding), 22 plates (3 coloured) & 8 illustrations in the text (2 coloured). 4to. Contemporary calf, gilt and ruled with morocco labels to spine, the Brooke-Hitching copy. xx, xxxviii, 617, [1], 1; xvi, 335, 1pp. London, 1798 &

David Collins (b.1756), an officer in the Royal Marines who had seen service in the American War of Independence, was appointed to the First Fleet as deputy Judge Advocate to the marines and the new colony. In this post, and as secretary to Governor Phillip, he was in an ideal position to observe at close hand the various conditions and transactions of the fledgling colony and he recorded these with meticulous detail in his journal. Following his return from New South Wales in 1796 this journal was prepared for publication but was not printed until some two years later, thus making it the last of the First Fleet journals to be published. Unlike Hunter, Tench and White, Collins produced a relatively objective and highly detailed account, including an appendix on the aborigines and plates illustrating their manners and customs, as well as information on Norfolk Island and New Zealand provided by King. Wantrup, 19 & 20; Ferguson, 263 & 350

Stock Code: 214055