Bound for Botany Bay: what books did the First Fleeters read and where are they now?

Abstract

In this, the year of the Australian Bicentennial, it was extremely surprising to the present authors that so little research had been undertaken on the books that the First Fleeters read and brought to Australia in 1788. In general terms, there are very few surviving First Fleet objects, such as coins, furniture and glassware. even paintings and drawings are not that numerous. Probably diairies and letters are the 'commonest' items in volume if certainly not in price. The few surviving books that came out on the First fleet are of considerable historical and commercial interest.