Bligh, William (1754-1817)
A Voyage to the South Sea.

London: Printed for George Nicol, 1792.

First edition, large quarto, [pi]2, a4, B-Z4, Aa-4 illustrated with stipple-engraved frontispiece of Bligh engraved by Condé after Russell, five folding and two full page engravings, including maps, plans, and an illustration of breadfruit (seven in total), some light spotting and offsetting to portrait and title, as is seldom the case, contents generally clean; bound in full contemporary marbled calf, gilt-decorated and lettered spine, inner gilt dentelles, gilt-ruled boards, well-preserved, Chillingham Castle copy, with book label, 11 3/4 x 9 1/8 in.

Ferguson 125; Hill 135; Kroepelien 93; NMM 1:624; Sabin 5910.

The Bounty's straightforward mission to acquire breadfruit trees from Tahiti and establish plantations in the West Indies takes an ominous turn on April 27th of 1789, as described in chapter XIII, "A Mutiny in the Ship." After Bligh (hands tied behind his back, at bayonet point) and eighteen men loyal to him were forced into a twenty-three foot launch, they were cast adrift with only basic supplies by prime mutineer Fletcher Christian and his compatriots. Twelve of the original nineteen survived the harrowing 3,600 mile journey home in the open launch. Captain Bligh arrived in Portsmouth on March 14, 1790 with a list of names and some unfinished business.