{"product_id":"2026100008784-secondhand-the-journal-and-letters-of-lt-ralph-clark-1787-1792","title":"The Journal And Letters Of Lt. Ralph Clark: 1787-1792","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: Worn\/faded, no tears\u003cbr\u003ePages: Good\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFew primary sources illuminate the harrowing birth of a nation with such raw, unfiltered humanity as the personal writings of a young British naval officer thrust to the very edge of the known world. The Journal and Letters of Lt. Ralph Clark 1787–1792 presents the complete personal correspondence and diary entries of Lieutenant Ralph Clark, a marine officer who sailed with the First Fleet and endured the founding years of the British penal colony at Port Jackson, New South Wales. Clark's writings chronicle his daily struggles, emotional torments, and intimate observations of life aboard the transport ships and on the shores of a foreign continent, offering an irreplaceable eyewitness account of one of history's most consequential colonial ventures.\n\nMeticulously edited by Paul G. Fidlon and R.J. Ryan, this volume stands as a landmark contribution to Australian historical scholarship, drawing on original manuscripts to present a document of extraordinary personal and national significance. Clark's voice is candid and unguarded — at times tender, at times desperate — painting a portrait of a man deeply homesick yet bound by duty to a mission that would reshape a continent. The editors' scholarly apparatus lends rigorous context to Clark's entries, situating his private world within the broader sweep of late eighteenth-century British imperial ambition. For anyone who wishes to understand what it truly felt like to stand at the founding moment of modern Australia, this is an essential and deeply moving record.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49342760616155,"sku":"2026100008784-SECONDHAND","price":40.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/e9dd46e3-f9e5-4016-b63f-1cd70b1f0207.png?v=1790048649","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026100008784-secondhand-the-journal-and-letters-of-lt-ralph-clark-1787-1792","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}