An Account of the Voyages Undertaken by the Order of his Present Majesty for Making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere. And Successively Performed by Commodore Byron, Captain Wallis, Captain Carteret, and Captain Cook.
Author: Hawkesworth, John Title: An Account of the Voyages Undertaken by the Order of his Present Majesty for Making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere. (4 Volumes) Publication: London: W.
[12], liii, [3], 362; [8], 447, [1]; [7], [1], 416; [6], 429, [3 (ads)] pp. Third edition (first octavo edition). In contemporary speckled calf boards with 20th century reback in calf. Lacking frontispiece "Chart of part of the South Seas, " otherwise complete with 10 folding plates and chart.Boards are rubbed with occasional superficial worming to the leather; contemporary bookplate of William Short on the front pastedown of each volume; latter volumes with scant and scattered pencil marginalia and underline with only a few leaves very brief ink notations; the folding plates are generally quite nice with only occasional misfolding. Originally issued in 1773, this is the third edition of Hawkesworth important collection of English maritime expeditions. While it is not limited to Cook's first voyage, that is perhaps the most significant inclusion. Cook's first voyage was principally scientific in nature. The first stop was to observe the transit of Venus from Tahiti in order to determine the distance between the earth and the sun.
After several weeks of ethnological and botanical data collection, the Endeavour left Tahiti for New Zealand where Cook circumnavigated both islands, onward to Australia where he charted 2,000 miles of coastline, naming it New South Wales. Perhaps most significant, these accounts ensured John Hawkesworth's position in maritime literary history, as the official chronicler of Cook's first voyage....
Hawkesworth was expected to add polish to the rough narratives of sea men, and to present the accounts in a style befitting the status of the voyage as official government expedition, intended to embellish England's prestige as a maritime power Hill Collection 782 first ed. Subject: History--World, Rare Book Room, Travel, Adventure & the Outdoors. I have been a bookseller and bookbinder for nearly two decades. I offer a general stock with an emphasis in private press and illustrated books, as well as literature and Americana.
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