JUKES, Joseph Beete

Narrative of the Surveying Voyage of H.M.S. Fly, commanded by Captain F.P. Blackwood in Torres Strait, New Guinea, and other Islands of the Eastern Archipelago, during the Years 1842-1846 : Together with an Excursion into the interior of the Eastern Part of Java. London, T. & W. Boone, 1847. 2 volumes in-8 (221 x 141 mm) of V pp, 1 f.n.c., 362 pp, [10]pp. of bookseller's catalog, 10 plates (7 steel-engraved and 3 wood-engraved) 1 engraved folding map for volume I; IV, 1 f.n.c., 362 pp. [10] pp. of bookseller's catalog, 9 steel-engraved plates, 1 engraved folding map for volume II. Eggplant percale, boards decorated in cold, smooth spine decorated in cold and gilt (publisher's binding). Hill, 901; missing Ferguson. Jukes' (1811-1869) account is particularly important for its description of the Queensland coast, the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait, and includes a remarkably detailed map of the northeast coast from the Endeavour River to New Guinea. La Mouche, Captain Blackwood, left Falmouth on April 11, 1842 with the cutter Bramble. Jukes sailed as the expedition's naturalist and, with the consent of his captain, wrote the official account. The study of the Torres Strait and the Great Barrier Reef, as well as the various explorations in New Guinea, were all of great importance. Scientific understanding of the barrier reef could not begin until the survey, which Jukes mapped in detail for the first time, was completed. Jukes' own careful examination of the reef was also important, and his chapter on the subject is an invaluable document. His observations strongly supported Darwin's theory of coral reef formation. Among the beautiful engraved plates (20 plates, 16 of which are on steel), the 12 aquatints by Harden S. Melville, who published his own illustrated book of this trip. The 2 maps show the Great Barrier Reef and the island of Java. Nice copy, trace of stamp on the titles, well preserved in its original binding.