Records of the Port Phillip Expedition Volume 3: Voyages of the Calcutta Ocean

Naval History Maritime Exploration Australian Colonial History Convict Transportation Settlement Studies 19th-Century Voyages Primary Source Chronicles

First-edition hardcover collectors prize Records of the Port Phillip Expedition, Volume 3: Voyages of the Calcutta Ocean for its vivid, first-hand reconstruction of the 1803–04 voyage that founded what is now Melbourne. Published in 1993 by Melbourne’s boutique Colony Press, this volume blends maritime logbook, official despatch and personal diary to chart HMS Calcutta’s perilous passage from England with convicts, livestock and hopeful settlers. The result is a gripping non-fiction chronicle that doubles as an indispensable reference for anyone researching Australia’s colonial or naval history.

Inside, readers will find 35 period illustrations—many never reproduced elsewhere—plus two large fold-out maps that let you track the ship’s course across the Southern Ocean and into Port Phillip. These maps are intact and crisp in this copy, making it a standout on the shelf and a practical tool for historians, genealogists and modellers who need accurate coastline details. Currey’s meticulous footnotes connect every sailor, convict and supply list to archival sources, turning what could have been dry record-keeping into a living narrative of ambition, risk and survival on the far side of the world.

Because the first print-run was small and most copies went straight to Australian libraries, clean, tight, non-ex-library examples are scarce. This copy is in very good condition: no inscriptions, no dog-eared pages, no cracked hinges, and the dust-jacket retains its original colours. For collectors of Australian exploration, transportation or naval ephemera, it offers both the tactile pleasure of 1990s fine press production and the enduring research value of primary documentation on the birth of Port Phillip settlement.

Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.

Buy Now Questions