TURNBULL, John - Lot 156

TURNBULL, John Voyage made around the world, in 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, and 1804 in which the author visited the main islands of the Pacific Ocean and the English settlements in southern New Wales. Followed by an extract from James Grant's voyage to New Holland. Translated from the English by A.J.N. Lallemant. Paris, Xhrouet, Déterville, Lenormant, Petit, 1807. In-8 (200 x 122 mm) with a title leaf, II, 476 pp. Blue cardboard, smooth spine decorated with gilt title (period binding). Ferguson, 453; Forbes, 387; O'Reilly, 713. First edition of the French translation. Turnbull's first account of New South Wales, Tahiti and the Tuamotu Islands, first published in English in 1805. John Turnbull (d. 1813), a British navigator and merchant, first visited New South Wales as a supercargo aboard the Margaret with his trading partner, Captain John Buyers. Arriving in January 1801, Turnbull stayed in the colony for some time before leaving on a whaler for Norfolk Island. Further trading adventures through Tahiti, Hawaii, and the Pacific (including a disastrous shipwreck in the Tuamotus) were not a lasting success, and by December 1803, both Turnbull and Buyers had returned to Port Jackson. Turnbull's book was the first serious account of trade and commerce from New South Wales, and it played an important role in promoting Australia as a place of commercial success. It was widely distributed in Europe where French, German and Swedish editions followed in quick succession. A fine copy with full margins, well preserved in its original hardback.