BARRINGTON, George

The History of New South Wales, including Botany Bay.

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Printed for M Jones. London, 1802. Octavo, engraved title, frontispiece, engraved title, and 21 plates all in early hand colouring, bound without preliminary pp. [i-viii] (the printed title evidently discarded in favour of the engraved title), and without the list of plates and binder's directions sometimes seen at the end; a fine copy in original half calf, marble sides and gilt on spine. An attractive extra-illustrated copy of this important edition of Barrington. The first book to contain coloured illustrations of Sydney, this copy is particularly unusual in having eight extra plates, all seemingly taken from a copy of An Account of a Voyage to New South Wales (the second book was published immediately following the present work, and the two are sometimes seen in matched contemporary bindings).

A lengthy note in Nathan Garvey's Celebrated George Barrington underlines the importance of this work: 'an ambitious and elaborate "new" work, published in tandem with an expanded version of the Voyage. The text was for the most part a plagiaristic rewriting of David Collins' Account of the English Colony in New South Wales.' Hence, this is a substantial and important account of early Sydney. The preface claims justifiably that 'no prior attempt has been made to produce a complete history of the Country itself, from its discovery, and an account of its inhabitants, their customs and manners...'. George Barrington had been transported to Sydney on the Third Fleet of 1791, already a legend as a rogue. Over the next decade English publishers used his notoriety to produce books on transportation and the new colony for a public eager for information.

This work was issued in fourteen weekly parts, priced at one shilling each, from November 1802 through February 1803. Garvey also comments that the extant copies of the work 'exhibit a wide variety of different collations': this copy is no exception, as the original binder has discarded the first [viii] pages of preliminaries, including the printed title (evidently the binder considered the handsome engraved title sufficient). The list of plates and binder's directions seen at the end of some copies are also not present. Garvey further points out that although much reissued, only one impression seems to have been made; the only significant change is the correction to the engraved title ("Parramatta"), as here.

The engraved plates are by Vivian Woodthorpe. The eight extra plates present here are: 'A Native Family', 'Town & Country of Sydney', 'Garden Island', 'Entrance of Parramatta River', 'East View of Sydney', 'South View of Sydney', 'Pinchgut Island', and the single plate featuring the 'Cameleopard' and the 'Spotted Hyena'.
Garvey, 'George Barrington', AB29b (and see AB30).

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