Governor Arthur Phillip

Arthur Phillip  1738-1814
The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay was published by John Stockdale in 1789. It was based on Governor Phillip’s official reports to the British Government about the establishment of the new colony in Australia. The book was illustrated by 54 engraved plates and charts.

Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales in 1786. “[He] had a clear vision of the new settlement as a free society and not merely a repository for criminals. Although he tried to pursue this policy, and although he urged it patiently and insistently on his superiors, he was to find himself constantly frustrated, as were his successors, by the indifference and short-sightedness of his political masters in England.” [Jonathan Wantrup: “Australian Rare Books 1788–1900” Hordern House 1987] 

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