BLIGH, William (1754-1817). A Narrative of the Mutiny. London, 1790. FIRST EDITION, a wide-margined copy.
4to (310 x 244 mm). Folding frontispiece, 3 maps (2 folding, 2 printed on blue paper). Modern tan calf, marbled boards, vellum corners, top edge gilt, others uncut, by Bumpus. Provenance: Philip Gosse, collector of Piracy and Mutiny accounts (bookplate). FIRST EDITION of Captain Bligh's own account of the mutiny against him. When Fletcher Christian forced Bligh and eighteen loyal men to cast off in the ship's launch, Bligh famously navigated over 4,000 miles of open water armed only with a compass, a quadrant, and a chronometer. This voyage of 45 days proceeded through Fiji, up the Australian coast and through the Torres Straits to Timor, and many parts of the unknown north-east coast of New Holland were charted and named. Although Bligh returned in 1790 to face court-martial proceedings, he was acquitted along with others. Promoted to commander, he made a second attempt to transport bread-fruit trees from the Pacific to the Atlantic. A FINE WIDE-MARGINED COPY. Ferguson I, 71; Hill 132.
