London: J. Johnson, 1800. Quarto, twelve engraved plates (two folding, nine with an accompanying non-paginated text leaf), the signature of William Cowper on the title page. Original boards (worn) with modern spine, some waterstaing and heavy oxidation.

An outstanding Australian provenance. The copy of William Macquarie Cowper (1810-1902), with a typed note pasted in "This book was the property of the very Revd Dean William Macquarie Cowper [born] in Sydney 1810. This autograph signature may be the father's but at any rate the book itself is of special interest and value".

William Macquarie Cowper, born in Sydney and a godson of Governor Lachlan Macquarie was the first Australian born Anglican clergyman. His father Willian Cowper (1778-1858), recruited in 1808 by the Reverend Samuel Marsden, arrived in Australia in 1809 becoming the first clergyman permanently settled in Sydney.

Erasmus Robert Darwin (1731-1802) was a prolific writer and prominent intellectual of his day, best remembered as the grandfather of Charles Darwin.