A Narrative of the Mutiny, on board His Majesty`s Ship Bounty - photo 1
A Narrative of the Mutiny, on board His Majesty`s Ship Bounty - photo 2

A Narrative of the Mutiny, on board His Majesty`s Ship Bounty

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$ 27 720
Auction dateClassic
06.10.2022 12:00UTC -04:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
USA, New York
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ID 813659
Lot 108 | A Narrative of the Mutiny, on board His Majesty's Ship Bounty
A Narrative of the Mutiny, on board His Majesty's Ship Bounty

Presentation copy, 1790

BLIGH, William (1754-1817). A Narrative of the Mutiny, on board His Majesty's Ship Bounty; and the subsequent voyage of part of the crew, in the ship's boat, from Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch Settlement in the East Indies. London: Printed for George Nicol, 1790.



A rare presentation copy of the first edition of Bligh's account of the infamous mutiny on the Bounty, with manuscript annotations recording the fates of the mutineers. "This is Captain Bligh's own account of the mutiny, one of the most remarkable incidents in the whole of maritimate history. After the publication of this narrative, Bligh presented copies to the Lords of Admiralty and other influential people in the hope that his account of the mutiny would absolve him from any blame that might be leveled against him because of the incident" (Hill). The recipient of the present copy, however, who began as a Lieutenant in the same year as Bligh, may have been simply a friend. Annotations, presumably by Cooke, on the ship's roster (pp. 6-7) record the fates of members of the crew.



The Bounty, captained by Bligh, set sail in 1787 on a mission to Tahiti to collect and transport breadfruit. After their five-month stay in Tahiti, however, his men were less inclined to return to shipboard life and discipline—and morale began to deteriorate. A group of mutineers led by Fletcher Christian seized the ship, and forcing Bligh with a small number of his loyal supporters into the ship's boat in which they would ultimately make an incredibly open-boat voyage back to Kupang. Christian and his men returned to Tahiti and would eventually further fragment. Some of the mutineers were recaptured, tried, and hanged, while Christian and his inner circle attempted to start a secret settlement on Pitcairn island. Hill 132. Ferguson 71.



Quarto (309 x 243mm). 4 engraved maps and plans, 3 of which folding (a few openings with offset browning or other small spots). Modern burgundy morocco. Provenance: Admiral John Cooke, 1750-1834 (inscription noting gift from Bligh dated 19 July 1791, other marginalia; by descent to:) – H.C. Harston (grandson of Cooke, inscription) – Calvin Bullock (Napoleonica collector; Tiffany bookplate, correspondence with explorer Felix Count von Luckner laid in).

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