$37,500
In stock
This attractive and historic set includes the accounts of all three voyages of Captain James Cook. The volumes are bound in an early binding of tan half calf gilt, morocco labels.
“The famous accounts of Captain Cook’s three voyages form the basis for any collection of Pacific books. 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 really the first scientific navigator and his voyages made great contributions to many fields of knowledge.” (Hill)
“Cook earned his place in history by opening up the Pacific to western civilization and by the foundation of British Australia. The world was given for the first time an essentially complete knowledge of the Pacific Ocean and Australia, and Cook proved once and for all that there was no great southern continent, as had always been believed. He also suggested the existence of antarctic land in the southern ice ring, a fact which was not proved until the explorations of the nineteenth century.” (Printing and the Mind of Man p.135)
Included in this set are:
First Voyage:
Three volumes of John Hawkesworth’s An Account of the Voyages 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, in the Dolphin, the Swallow, and the Endeavour published in London in 1773 for W. Strahan and T. Cadell. This is second edition with 52 engraved maps, charts, and plates. The work includes the map of the Strait of Magellan which was not included with the first issue. Volume I contains the voyages of Byron, Carteret and Wallis, with the discovery of Tahiti, and volumes II-III contain Hawkesworths edited account of Lieutenant Cooks voyage (he was only promoted to Captain on his return).
Cook’s first voyage of three, taking place between 1768 and 1771, was a combined Royal Navy and Royal Society expedition to the South Pacific aboard the HMS Endeavour. Departing from the Plymouth Dockyard in August 1768, the expedition crossed the Atlantic and reached Tahiti in time to observe the transit of Venus before setting off into the largely uncharted ocean to the south. In 1769, the crew reach New Zealand, and spent six months charting the coast before resuming their journey westward. In 1770 the crew became the first Europeans to reach the east coast of Australia before rounding the Cape of Good Hope in 1771 and returning to England the summer of that year.
Second Voyage:
Two volumes of James Cook’s A Voyage Towards the South Pole and Round the World published in London in 1784 by W. Strahan and T. Cadell. This is the fourth edition with 63 engraved maps, charts, and plates. It also includes an engraved portrait of Cook by J. Basire after W. Hodges.
“The success of Cook’s first voyage led the Admiralty to send him on a second expedition, which was to circumnavigate the globe as far south as possible in search of any southern continents … the men of this expedition became the first to cross the Antarctic Circle. Further visits were made to New Zealand, and on two great sweeps Cook made an astonishing series of discoveries and rediscoveries including Easter Island, the Marquesas, Tahiti and the Society Islands, Niue, the Tonga Islands, the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, and a number of smaller islands. Rounding Cape Horn, on the last part of the voyage, Cook discovered and charted South Georgia, after which he called at Cape Town, St. Helena and Ascension, and the Azores … This voyage produced a vast amount of information concerning the Pacific peoples and islands, proved the value of the chronometer as an aid to finding longitude, and improved techniques for preventing scurvy.” (Hill p.123)
Third Voyage:
Three quarto volumes of James Cook and Captain James King’s A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean for making Discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere published in 1785 in London for G. Nicol and T. Cadell. This is the second and best edition edition and includes 24 engraved maps, charts, and plates. Also included is the folio atlas volume which includes 61 maps and charts.
“Cook’s third voyage was organized to seek the Northwest Passage and to return [the islander] Omai to Tahiti. Officers of the crew included William Bligh, James Burney, James Colnett, and George Vancouver. John Webber was appointed artist to the expedition. After calling at Kerguelen Island, Tasmania, New Zealand, and the Cook, Tonga, and Society Islands, the expedition sailed north and discovered Christmas Island and the Hawaiian Islands, which Cook named the Sandwich Islands. Cook charted the American west coast from Northern California through the Bering Strait as far north as latitude 70 degrees 44 minutes before he was stopped by pack ice. He returned to Hawaii for the winter and was killed in an unhappy skirmish with the natives over a boat. Charles Clarke took command and after he died six months later, the ships returned to England under John Gore. Despite hostilities with the United States and France, the scientific nature of this expedition caused the various governments to exempt these vessels from capture. The voyage resulted in what Cook judged his most valuable discovery – the Hawaiian Islands.” (Hill)
© Copyright 2019. All Rights Reserved. Site by BURCHAM.