Heading:
Author: Coxe, William
Title: Account of the Russian Discoveries Between Asia and America. To Which are added, the Conquest of Siberia, and the History of the Transactions and Commerce Between Russia and China
Place Published: London
Publisher:J. Nichols for T. Cadell
Date Published: 1780
Description:

xxiii, [1], 344, [13], [1], + [2] ad pp. 4 folding copper-engraved maps and charts; folding copper-engraved view of the Chinese frontier town of Maimatschin. (4to) 27.5x21.5 cm (10¾x8½"), early full calf, red leather spine label. Second Edition, revised and corrected.

This second edition of Coxe's important overview of Russian discoveries in the arctic, has, as Lada-Mocarski notes, "substantially the same contents and makeup" as the first edition of the same year. The work is largely a compilation and translations of accounts of Russian discoveries after those of Bering and Tchirikoff in 1741, supplementing the work of Mueller, with whom, along with P.S. Pallas, Coxe consulted extensively. Pages [17]-174, "Account of the new discoveries made by the Russians..." is a translation from the German of Johann Ludwig Schultz's Neue Nachrichten von dened neuentdekten Insuln in der See zwischen Asien und America, 1776. There was a supplement issued in 1787, "A Comparative View of the Russian Discoveries...," which is sometimes bound with the present work (not present here), and was included in the body of the third edition. Though a compilation, Lada-Mocarski observes that "Coxe's work...is a result of contemporary and authoritative sources translated into English, not to be overlooked by scholars and collectors alike...." Hill, discussing this work and its significance, notes that "Coxe made suggestions which led the Russians to promote expeditions of discovery to the northern parts of Siberia. His list of works on the subject, and his observations on the fur trade between the Russians and the Chinese, are very valuable..." The maps and charts are

• General Map of the Russian Empire. 29.7x58.5 cm.
• Krenitzin's and Levasheff's Voyage to the Fox Islands in 1768 and 1769. 20x58.5 cm.
• Chart of Synd's Voyage towards Tschukotskoi Noss. 43x43.5 cm.
• Chart of Shalauroff's Voyage. 11x33 cm.

Hill 391; Howes C834; Lada-Mocarski 29; Streeter Sale 3472.

Binding rubbed, spine a bit dry, front joint cracked; irregular creasing and split along fold on frontispiece; light foxing; very good.