The Last Voyage

inscribed presentation copy from Lord Brassey

A presentation copy from Lady Brassey's widower, inscribed on a leaf of thin paper pasted on the left margin to the half title 'Lady Victoria Buxton from Brassey in memoriam'. A narrative of sailing in and around the East Indies and Australia.

Lady Brassey died on this voyage, and was buried at sea, at the age of 47 in 1887. Thomas, first Earl Brassey, who finished the manuscript, was a man with the sea in his blood, and is still remembered as the founder and first editor of Brassey's Naval Annual, and from 1876 to 1877 is said to have made the first circumnavigation of the world by a private yacht, the steam-assisted three-masted topsail-yard schooner Sunbeam, the same vessel used in this journey.

Lady Victoria Buxton (1839–1916) was a British philanthropist principally known for her work with the Mothers' Union and Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA). She visited Lord Brassey and his second wife at Government House, Melbourne in May 1896, when Lord Brassey was Governor of Victoria. The Sunbeam was at anchor in the harbour and they 'crossed the harbour in a steam-launch... and lunched on board... Lord Brassey took us into all the cabins, so snug and comfortable, the walls covered with photos and pretty water-colour pictures...' (Lady Victoria Buxton, a memoir, 1919, by George W.E. Russell).

First edition; 8vo, presentation copy from the author's widower, xxiv, 490 pp., 2 folding maps, frontispiece, pictorial title page, 19 plates, illustrations to the text. original dark blue cloth gilt, light wear to extremities, a very good copy.