Bligh, William (1975) ‘The Log of HMS Bounty 1787-89’, UK signed deluxe limited edition, bound by Zaehnsdorf

William Bligh (1975) ‘The Log of H.M.S. Bounty 1787-1789‘, UK limited edition, published by Genesis Publications. One of only 50 deluxe copies bound in full leather by Zaehnsdorf; signed by the then Admiral of the Fleet, the Earl Mountbatten of Burma. Taken from the 500 limited edition copies, of which this is no. 161.

Condition: a fine and unread book. The solander box displays shelf wear including minor bumps and scratches and a few stains. The interior lining lightly foxed.

The Log of the HMS Bounty is a momentous book, marking the beginning of Genesis Publications. After studying at The London College of Printing and working for three book publishers, Brian Roylance founded Genesis Publications in a one-roomed office in Guildford.

After receiving permission to publish the hand-written account of the voyage of the Bounty from the manuscript held in The Public Record Office in London, the embryonic Genesis got a further boost when the late Lord Mountbatten agreed to write the Foreword. The then Admiral of the Fleet kindly went on to write three more Forewords to subsequent Genesis titles.

The story of the Bounty is well-known. During the ship’s five month stay in Tahiti there was a slackening of discipline on this sensuous and relaxing tropical island – this ‘paradise of the world’ as Bligh himself called it – and was accompanied by a good deal of womanising.

Back at sea the bullying Bligh trying to compensate for his lack of authority on land caused anger and resentments to boil over. Fletcher Christian and his accomplices mutinied and cast Bligh and eighteen crew members adrift, poorly provisioned, in a small launch. The resulting 3,600 mile voyage to safety through largely unchartered seas is one of the greatest feats of navigation, seamanship and leadership ever recorded. It is vividly documented in Genesis editions The Voyage of the Bounty Launch by John Fryer, the Master of the Bounty. The Mutiny is further detailed in The Mutinous Seizure of the Bounty.