A Journey to Cooper's Creek (Signed by Editor/Translator)

Beckler, Hermann [Translated by Stephen Jeffries & Michael Kertesz]; Edited with an Introduction by Stephen Jefferies

ISBN 10: 0522844847 / ISBN 13: 9780522844849

Published by Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1993

Large octavo size [16x24cm approx]. Near Fine copy in Very Good dustjacket. Dustjacket has a small, faint stain and minor abrasion to front panel & is now protected in our purpose-made plastic sleeve. Black & white illustrations. Fold-out map to rear. Signed by editor on half-title page. Robust, professional packaging and tracking provided for all parcels. 205 pages. Hermann Beckler was the botanical collector and doctor to the Burke & Wills expedition and he wrote this, the only account other than that by the Burke & Wills party. Written in German - translated by Stephen Jeffries and Michael Kertesz, it provides a highly readable account with drawings and maps, and insights into the causes of the failed expedition. Seller Inventory # 267022

Synopsis:

The account of Hermann Beckler, German medical officer and botanical collector with the Burke and Wills expedition, translated and published for the first time.

First-hand accounts of the myth-laden Burke and Wills expedition are remarkably few, in contrast to the reams of subsequent commentary and conjecture. Wills's journal and statements by others in the party were published at the time, but little more.

Hermann Beckler, botanical collector and doctor to the expedition, wrote the only other substantial account, in his native German. The manuscript remained with his family for nearly a century. It is now published for the first time.

This highly readable account, with drawings and maps, offers insights into the causes of the expedition's failure-an ill-chosen leader and route, and inappropriate and excessive supplies. In increasingly desperate conditions Beckler collected and identified the native flora, and recorded vivid and positive descriptions of the landscape and the Aboriginal people. His acute observations indicate what might have been achieved had the expedition pursued its scientific brief.

About the Author: Dr Stephen Jeffries has researched a number of German travellers and settlers in nineteenth-century Australia.

Bibliographic Details

Title: A Journey to Cooper's Creek (Signed by ...
Publisher: Melbourne University Press, Melbourne
Publication Date: 1993
Binding: Hardback
Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
Signed: Signed by Author(s)
Edition: 1st Edition.