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Bonwick, James & Westgarth, W.
Discovery and Settlement of Port Phillip; Being a History of the Country Now Called Victoria, Up to the Arrival of Mr Superintendent Latrobe, in October, 1839 [presentation copy].
Publisher: Printed by Goodall and Demaine; published for the author by George Robertson, Collins Street, Melbourne;
Date of Publication: 1856
Stock Code: 3638
First edition. Octavo, pp., [ii] 142, plus fold-out lithographic map from the survey by Wedge. Publisher’s original blue cloth; titled in gilt to upper board white end-papers. Inscribed to front free end-paper ‘Mr Mather // With the author’s kind regards.’ Inscribed to the same leaf in contemporary hand ‘Park Hill Stew[?] // John Byby’. Cloth rubbed and heavily soiled; shelf-wear to edges. Map misfolded with associated creasing and soiling. Inner hinges weak, lower hinge partially cracked; sporadic foxing and finger-marks, mainly to end-papers; front paste-down partially detached. A good working copy. One of the most voluminous writers on Australia in his lifetime, James Bonwick (1817-1906) was a nonconformist, schoolteacher, gold prospector, geographer, and historian. This volume is a detailed history of the first European explorers and settlers in Port Philip, which would become the site of the city of Melbourne. £120.00