AN ACCOUNT OF THE ENGLISH COLONY IN NEW SOUTH WALES: with remarks on the dispositions, customs, manners, &c. ... To which are added, some particulars of New Zealand; compiled, by permission, from the MSS. of Lieutenant-Governor King. by COLLINS, David.: - 1798

London, printed for T. Cadell Jun, and W. Davies, 1798.. 2 volumes, complete set, FIRST EDITIONS 1798 and 1802, 4to, approximately 270 x 220 mm, 10½ x 8½ inches, lacking half-titles, VOLUME I, AN ACCOUNT OF THE ENGLISH COLONY IN NEW SOUTH WALES, 22 engraved plates of which 4 in the text, plus 2 charts, 1 folding, pages: xx, xxxviii, [2], 1-617, [3]; VOLUME II, title:"AN ACCOUNT OF THE ENGLISH COLONY IN NEW SOUTH WALES, FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT IN JANUARY 1788, to 1801, with remarks on the dispositions, customs, manners, &c. of the native inhabitants of that country. To which are added, some particulars of New Zealand; compiled, by permission, from the mss. of Lieutenant-Governor King; and an account of a voyage performed by Captain Flinders and Mr. Bass; by which the existence of a strait separating van Dieman's land from the continent of New Holland was ascertained. Abstracted from the journal of Mr. Bass", engraved frontispiece, 7 engraved plates of which 4 in the text, 3 full page hand coloured plates and 1 in the text nicely hand coloured as issued, a chart and a plan, pages: xvi, 1-335, [1], both volumes bound in full modern speckled calf, double ruled gilt border with gilt patterned border, gilt decorated raised bands, gilt anchor in compartments with gilt patterned borders, contrasting gilt lettered labels, new endpapers. Armorial bookplate of Peter Dowding Prankerd and his old ink signature from the original endpaper, mounted on front pastedown in each volume. Volume I: Pale foxing to title page and slight vertical crease to inner margin, faint browning to margins of several pages at begining, some pale brown splashing to lower margin of viii-ix, more on pages 287, 351, and 500-501, no loss of text, pale foxing to margin of 1 chart, pale spotting or small pale stain to margins of engraved plates, pale brown stain to corner of plates page 124 and 401, another to half of plate page 232, small crease to sky of same plate, a few tiny closed tears to fore-edge margin of plate page 307 neatly repaired on blank side, 5 mm (¼") ink spot on background of plate page 367, a few tiny ink splashes on pages 136-137, no loss of legibility, large pale stain to upper inner corner of text pages 407-416, 3 small ink marks in margin on page 436, about 4 words missing on page 461, due to adhesion to facing page, 1 corner tip missing, many small patches of pale browning; Volume II: Pale foxing and browning to title page, frontispiece and chart and page 1 slightly stained in fore-edge margin, occasional pale spotting to margins, pale damp staining to fore-edge margin of pages 283-311 and final plate page 310. A very good set complete with all plates. Dowding Prankerd was a native of Bristol who emigrated to Adelaide South Australia in 1839, where he worked as a land developer and mine operator, amassing a great fortune. Returning to Bristol in 1872 he bought a large house known as The Knoll in Sneyd Park, Bristol. David Collins (1756-1810) arrived with the First Fleet as Judge-Advocate and was Secretary to Governor Phillip. His book is a valuable account of the early settlement by an educated and observant resident of ten years, and was the last of the Australian foundation books to be published. It contains the most detailed and painstaking of all descriptions of the voyage and first settlement found in any of the early narratives. Volume II, published 4 years after the first contains much valuable information from George Bass's journal which was subsequently lost. Ferguson, Bibliography of Australia, Volume I, page 101, No. 263 and page 134, No. 350; Jonathan Wantrup, Australian Rare Books 1788-1900, pages 348-349; Sotheby's Brooke-Hitching Catalogue, Part I, No.276. HEAVY SET WHICH MAY REQUIRE EXTRA POSTAGE. MORE IMAGES ATTACHED TO THIS LISTING, ALL ZOOMABLE, FURTHER IMAGES ON REQUEST. POSTAGE AT COST.