Cole’s Library of Notable Books. Journal of researches into the natural history and geology of the countries visited during the voyage round the world of H.M.S. ‘Beagle’ under the command of Captain Fitz Roy, R.N.

(From the Corrected and Enlarged Edition of 1845). With a Biographical Introduction. Melbourne; E. W. Cole, Book Arcade; [c. 1890?]. First Australian edition (?). Octavo original black cloth (silverfished), edges stained red, yellow endpapers, pp. pp. xx, 381; [blank]; 16 plates, text vignettes, maps, internally clean, a very good copy.

An account of the five years that English naturalist Charles Darwin spent traveling around the world on the HMS Beagle, a voyage that led him to develop his theory of the evolution of the species.

Not in Ferguson, nor in Freeman, but clearly sharing the same parentage as the Routledge edition (John Lubbock’s Hundred Book’s – Freeman 69), in this case however including both the plates and the biographical introduction by G. T. Bettany. The title-page is a cancel. This appears to be the first Australian edition.