[COOKS VOYAGES]
First Edition.
A New, Authentic, and Complete Collection of Voyages Round the World.
Undertaken and Performed by Royal Authority.
Containing an Authentic, Entertaining, Full and Complete History of
Captain COOK's First, Second, Third and Last VOYAGES...
now publishing under the immediate direction of George William Anderson, Esq.
London: Printed for the Proprietors, and published by Alex. Hogg, at the Kings' Arms ... 1784.
An important collection of Cook's voyages along with those of Carteret, Anson, Drake and others. Originally issued in eighty parts, there are several variants of this work, and the number of plates vary considerably.
The present copy does not contain the Death of Capt. James Cook plate, but the frontispiece is dated 1784, and the heading of p. 5 reading "A Genuine and Complete History of the Whole of Capt. Cook's Voyages," both diagnostic of an early issue.
Thick folio (10-1/2 by 15-1/2 inches).
Old cardboard binding.
Both covers and several pages are detached. Very good interior condition. Only occasional scattered foxing. A few minor tears on the margins.
Frontispiece portrait of Captain James Cook
Richly illustrated first edition account of the "first really scientific navigator," with engraved frontispiece portrait of Cook, 150 magnificent full-page plates of elevations, views, inhabitants, utensils, flora and fauna, maps and charts. Part of the plates having more than one image
Facing challenges surpassed only by modern space flight, Captain James Cook embodied the spirit of the great age of maritime discovery. The only 18th-century explorer to lead more than one Pacific voyage, he embarked on three circumnavigations between 1768 and 1776, essentially transforming into their modern form the dangerously unreliable maps of the Pacific's expanse and the New World's western coast. "In three great voyages Cook did more to clarify the geographical knowledge of the Southern Hemisphere than all his predecessors had done together. He was the first really scientific navigator and his voyages made great contributions to many fields of knowledge" (Hill). Accounts of these three famous voyages, with their remarkable engravings, found an eager public, and today form the basis for any collection of exploration.
In addition to Cook's voyages, this "important compilation of English voyages" includes accounts of the voyages of Sir Francis Drake, Lord Anson, Philip Carteret, Samuel Wallis, John Byron and Lord Mulgrave.
"Anderson sometimes gives the original accounts, others are edited or abridged versions, and frequently additional materials, from other sources, are added to give scope and depth to the narratives" (Hill).
This copy has the heading on page [5]: "A Genuine " (rather than "A New, Genuine ").
With list of subscribers bound after "Directions to the Bookbinder" leaf at rear.
Beddie 19. Hill 18. Cox I, 22. Howgego I: C176. Sabin 52455.
James Cook was an 18th-century British explorer known for these three major world voyages. The initial reason for his expeditions was to seek clarification and discover unknown regions in the Southern Hemisphere, mainly Australia and the surrounding islands. According to Hill,
“In three great voyages Cook did more to clarify the geographical knowledge of the Southern Hemisphere than all his predecessors had done together. He was the first really scientific navigator and his voyages made great contributions to many fields of knowledge”
Numerous accounts of Cook’s voyages were produced in the 18th-century, and George William Anderson’s “Collection of Voyages Round the World” is unquestionably the most iconic. It should be noted, however, that Anderson included other important English voyages in this work including those of Francis Drake, Lord Anson, Philip Carteret, Samuel Wallis, John Byron, and Lord Mulgrave.
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