A Book Collector's Notes on Items Relating to the Discovery of Australia: The First Settlement and the early Coastal Exploration of the Continent.

Hardback quarto, dustjacket, very good condition (in very good dustjacket), black & white photos (plates, some full-page), minor edgewear. 138 pp. Rodney Davidson provides a long overdue general guide to rare early Australian books, including bibliographies, reference books and catalogues, that record early European contacts with Australia, primarily elating to the discovery of Australia, the first settlement and the early coastal exploration of the Continent. There are six chapters. 1. A General Background to Collecting Australiana. 2. Terra Australia Incognito: Pre-Cook Voyages Factual and Fictitious. 3. Captain James Cook, R.N. F.R.S.: The Recorded European Discovery of the Elusive Eastern Coast. 4. The Foundation of the Nation: The First Fleet and the First Settlement. 5. Early French Voyages to Australia. 6. Early Coastal Voyages. In 1970, the author had been a noted collector of rare early Australian books for 22 years. (Standard edition.).