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Image Not Available for Bligh's Voyage In The RESOURCE
Bligh's Voyage In The RESOURCE
Image Not Available for Bligh's Voyage In The RESOURCE

Bligh's Voyage In The RESOURCE

Author (British, 1754 - 1817)
Illustrator (1908 - 1994)
Printer
Author (1889 - 1944)
Date1937
Object number00018150
NameBook
MediumGilt, cotton, wood engravings, ink, lead pencil, paper
DimensionsOverall: 203 mm, 1.1 kg
ClassificationsBooks and journals
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionA book titled `Bligh's voyage in the RESOURCE'. The second title page reads `From Coupang to Batavia, together with the log of his subsequent passage to England in the Dutch packet VLYDT and his remarks on Morrison's journal'. This edition, with an introduction by Owen Rutter, was published by The Golden Cockrel Press in 1937 and was the first time the original manuscripts, held at the Mitchell Library in New South Wales, had been printed. The book contains facsimiles of Bligh's log and chart. This particular edition is 170 of the limited run of 350.HistoryDiscovery and exploration continues to have an interest beyond its own time. In this century the most beautiful books devoted to Pacific exploration were published in the 1930's and 40's by Englands Golden Cockerell Press, illustrated by the leading wood engravers of the day. This edition of Bligh features wooden engravings by John Buckland Wright and Peter Barker-Mill. After the mutiny on the BOUNTY, Bligh and his remaining crew arrived in Coupang on Timor on 14th June, 1989. Exhausted, starving but still determined, Bligh now faced the next stage - getting them back to England. He bought a sloop called RESOURCE 'on trust' and made for the Dutch colony of Batavia. It was hoped he could then secure passage back to Europe on the outbound fleet leaving in October. Once in Batavia however, events took another downward turn with many of the men, including Bligh, becoming ill in the tropical heat. Bligh managed to recover enough to set sail on the 16 October on the VLYDLE, bound for Holland, along with John Smith, who had been the cook aboard the BOUNTY, and Mr Samuel who had been Bligh's clerk and strong ally. SignificanceThis book reproduces the full text of Bligh's log kept on the RESOURCE (including little - known details of another near mutiny) during his voyage from Timor to Batavia after the mutiny on the BOUNTY. It also covers his subsequent journey back to England in the VLYDL, a Dutch ship bound for Holland. Both logs are printed here for the first time from the originals in the Mitchell Library, New South Wales.