George Bond; Julien Renard
Melbourne: Edition Renard, 2005.

in New South Wales; Its Native Inhabitants, Productions, &c. &c. By George Bond. First published by the Author at Southampton in 1803 and reprinted for Him at Oxford, London, Cork and Dublin in various Years to about 1810. Eighth Edition, faithfully reprinted from the first, incorporating the additions and corrections of the later editions. Edited, with bibliographical notes by Julien Renard. Limited Edition of 100 copies within a total edition of 200 numbered copies, and now first published since about 1810. All the original editions are of great rarity. No copies of the 2nd or 3rd editions have been recorded and the first (Southampton, 1803) edition is extremely rare, while the 4th (Oxford, 1806), 5th (London, 1809), 5th (i.e. 6th, Cork, undated), and 6th (i.e. 7th, Dublin, also undated), editions are all very rare. The work is of considerable importance as one of the few accounts of Hunter’s period as Governor. Hunter was dissatisfied with Bond’s behaviour in the colony and complained of him in dispatches. Hunter was instructed to return him to England and Bond left the colony under a cloud in 1800, but his narrative was evidently very popular. He gives an account of the operation of the convict system and the economic corruption in the colony, and describes early efforts to encourage free settlers. He includes also comments on the Aborigines and on the natural history of the colony, including much from first-hand experience. See FERGUSON 480; WANTRUP, pp. 91-3.