Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia, and Overland from Adelaide to King George's Sound in the Years 1840-1; sent by the Colonists of South Australia, with the Sanction and Support of the Government: including an Account of the Manners and Customs of the Aborigines and the State of their Relations with Europeans by EYRE, Edward John - 1845

London: T. and W. Boone, 1845. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. London, T. and W. Boone, 1845 (first edition). Octavo, two volumes, [2] (inserted advertisement for Stokes, dated July 1845), xx, 448, 4 (inserted advertisements) pages plus 11 plates; and [4] (inserted advertisements for Siborne), vi, 512, 8 (inserted advertisements) pages with several tables (including a total of 6 pages comparing Aboriginal dialects) and 2 line illustrations (one, on page 364, not listed) plus 11 plates. There is a front endpocket in the first volume; it no longer contains the two folding maps, not listed in the contents, but required for completeness. They are extremely rare, and the later remainder issue of these volumes did not contain them. Original green ribbed cloth (with elaborately patterned blind-stamped sides and gilt-pictorial spines) lightly bumped at the extremities, and very slightly marked; spines sunned, with minimal wear at the ends and in a few spots along the rear joint of the second volume; top edges uncut (and now dusty), other edges only lightly trimmed; plates a little foxed and offset, with occasional light foxing elsewhere; leading edge of two adjacent leaves in the Appendix in Volume 1 slightly chipped (due to careless opening of unopened edges); an excellent set. Provenance: the contemporary signature 'R. Keppel Craven' is written in ink at the head of the first title page (presumably The Honorable Richard Keppel Craven, 1779-1851, British traveller, author, and long-time resident of Naples and Salerno). The blind-stamp of 'The Durdans, Roseberry, Epsom' appears on four leaves, suggesting it passed at some stage through the hands of Archibald Philip Primrose (1847-1929), the 5th Earl of Roseberry, British Prime Minister in 1894-95, and a big fan of Australia (see the 'Australian Dictionary of Biography'). The armorial bookplate of Novar of Raith (Sir Ronald Craufurd Munro Ferguson, Viscount Novar of Raith, 1860-1934), Governor-General of Australia from 1914 to 1920, is mounted on the pastedown of both volumes. For what it's worth, the first line of his entry in the 'Australian Dictionary of Biography' contains a typo, the first one we recall ever finding there.