WHITE, John (c. 1756-1832) and STONE, Sarah (1761-1844)

Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales with Sixty-five plates of Non descript Animals, Birds, Lizards, Serpents, curious Cones of Trees and other Natural Productions

London: J. Debrett, 1790. Quarto. (11 1/2 x 9 inches). (16), 299 pp., (36).. Engraved title-page vignette, list of subscribers, 65 hand-coloured engraved plates, 4 page publisher's advertisemen following appendix.

Contemporary brown calf, spine gilt, red and green morocco labels in second and fourth compartments.

The rare hand-coloured issue of White's beautifully illustrated First Fleet Journal with engravings after Sarah Stone: among the most desirable works of Australian exploration and natural history.

The most important early work of Australian natural history. John White served as surgeon general to the settlement of New South Wales and sailed with the First Fleet. His account is the best of the early descriptions of the natural history of the colony. 'White's Journal is of key importance to any collection of Australiana and is essential to a collection of Foundation books' (Wantrup, p. 78). Hill adds that 'the long appendix is very important as it describes the natural history of the new colony; the first major work of this sort.' The volume includes a lengthy subscribers list containing some seven hundred names, which speaks to contemporary interest in the South Pacific in the wake of Cook's voyages. The present copy is the elusive deluxe hand-coloured issue, with the provenance of the Earls of Lovelace. The magnificent plates are largely after drawings by Sarah Stone, based on the natural history specimens sent by White back to London. A prolific and highly accomplished painter of natural history subjects in London between 1777 and 1806, Stone worked for Sir Ashton Lever, documenting Lever's vast private collection of ornithological, zoological, and ethnographical specimens. Access to specimens collected by Cook's early voyages inspired Stone to create the most significant portfolio of paintings and published engravings of Australian birds, amply demonstrated by this volume

Abbey Travel, 605; Ayer/Zimmer, 672; Casey Wood, 626; Davidson, pp. 81-6; Ferguson, 97; Ford, 2495; Hill 1858; Nissen ZBI, 4390; Wantrup 17.

Item #40455

Price: $12,000.00