"The Sea Horse and the Wanderer: Ben Boyd in Australia presents Marion Diamond's compelling account of Benjamin Boyd, one of the most ambitious, flamboyant and controversial entrepreneurs in colonial Australia. Arriving at Sydney in 1842 aboard his aristocratic racing yacht Wanderer, Boyd brought wealth, influential connections and enormous commercial aspirations to a colony ripe for speculation and expansion.
As founder and chairman of the Royal Bank of Australia, Boyd rapidly accumulated pastoral properties and became one of the largest squatters and employers in New South Wales. His ventures extended across banking, shipping, whaling and pastoralism, while his activities also drew him into colonial politics, conflict with governors and the contentious importation of South Sea Island labour. Within only a few years, however, excessive borrowing and overexpansion brought the collapse of his financial empire and the failure of his bank.
Diamond offers a measured and thoroughly researched portrait of a man regarded by contemporaries as both an extraordinary businessman and a reckless adventurer. Boyd's remarkable rise and fall, his departure aboard the Wanderer and his mysterious disappearance in the Solomon Islands form one of the most dramatic stories of nineteenth-century Australian enterprise. Published by Melbourne University Press in 1988, this is the first edition, complete with its original unclipped dustjacket."
Light wear to dustjacket protected with a clear plastic sleeve. Pages clean and well presented with odd mark only. A nice copy in very good condition overall. Please study photos to further understand condition.
