[MUTINY]. BLIGH, William (1754-1817). 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, in His Majesty's Ship the Bounty. London: Printed for George Nicol, 1792.

Quarto. Engraved frontispiece portrait, 3 engraved plates (2 folding), 4 engraved maps and charts (3 folding). (Tiny spots to a few leaves.) Contemporary mottled calf gilt (rebacked preserving original spine).

FIRST EDITION OF "ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE INCIDENTS IN THE WHOLE OF MARITIME HISTORY" (Hill). Following a request by West Indian merchants to George III, Sir Joseph Banks recommended that the Admiralty fit out the Bounty for a voyage to collect bread-fruit trees from Tahiti for shipment to the West Indies. Banks also recommended Lieutenant Bligh as commander of the voyage on which Fletcher Christian sailed as Master's Mate. Reaching Cape Horn in 1787 and encountering fierce headwinds, Bligh retreated across the South Atlantic to round the Cape of Good Hope and sail south to Australia and New Zealand to Tahiti. This is the first official account of the voyage and mutiny, edited from Bligh's journals by James Burney under the supervision of Sir Joseph Banks while Bligh was on his second bread-fruit voyage. The year of publication also marked the court-martial proceedings against fourteen returned mutineers, three of whom were hanged. Ferguson 125; Hill 135; Kroepelien 93; NMM 1:624; Sabin 5910. A WIDE-MARGINED COPY.

Work is rebacked but retains original spine. Areas of spotting and damp staining to few pages, and some with handling tears to lower corners. Scratching and minor losses to contemporary calf gilt covers.

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Ben Fisher

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Mr. Fisher rejoined the firm in 2019 after working as a specialist in the American Furniture and Folk Art department at Sotheby’s New York. His areas of expertise include 18th, 19th, and 20th century American, Continental, and English furniture, decorative and folk art. Before coming to Hindman in 2013, Mr. Fisher worked in European Furniture and Decorative Arts in Philadelphia. He began his career working for a prints dealer focusing on works from the 16th through the 20th centuries.

Leah Vogelpohl

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Ms. Vogelpohl joined the firm in 2013 as a cataloger in the American and European Furniture and Decorative Arts department. She became a department specialist in 2017, focusing on American decorative arts and silver. She received a BA from the College of Charleston and an MLITT in Art History from the University of Glasgow.

Katie Benedict

Associate Specialist, Furniture & Decorative Arts

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Beyond a Cincinnati Legacy: The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fleischmann III, Part II

[MUTINY]. BLIGH, William (1754-1817). 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, in His Majesty's Ship the Bounty. London: Printed for George Nicol, 1792.

Beyond a Cincinnati Legacy: The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fleischmann III, Part II

[MUTINY]. BLIGH, William (1754-1817). 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, in His Majesty's Ship the Bounty. London: Printed for George Nicol, 1792.

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