Journal of Captain Cook's Last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean…
Journal of Captain Cook's Last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, on Discovery; performed in the years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, illustrated with cuts and a chart, shewing the tracts of the ships employed in this expedition. Faithfully narrated from the original Ms.
London: F. Newbery, 1781.
Octavo, with a folding map and five engraved plates (one folding); the leaf D4 cancelled as usual and replaced with four unsigned leaves; contemporary polished calf with spine label "Newberry's Collection Voyages" and the volume number '6' (the book was sometimes included in sets by the publisher, without acknowledgement on the title-page, and such numbering is not unusual).
First full account in English of Cook's third voyage
The first full account in English of Cook's third voyage: this is one of the most significant of the surreptitious accounts of Cook's voyages – the unauthorised accounts published anonymously to avoid repercussions from the Admiralty, who had embargoed the publication of private narratives before the appearance of the official narratives. In this example, Rickman scooped the official version by a full three years. This is therefore the first full authentic description of Hawaii to appear in English, and the engraved frontispiece "Representation of the Murder of Capt. Cooke at O-Why-ee" is in fact the first representation of Hawaii in a printed book. Though published anonymously, this scarce and important account of the voyage was conclusively shown by Judge Howay (Zimmermann's Captain Cook, Toronto, 1930) to have been the work of John Rickman, a lieutenant on the voyage. His description of the voyage, as well as predating the official account, differs from it in many respects - particularly regarding the death of Cook, for which this is a prime source.
The first full account in English of Cook's third voyage: this is one of the most significant of the surreptitious accounts of Cook's voyages – the unauthorised accounts published anonymously to avoid repercussions from the Admiralty, who had embargoed the publication of private narratives before the appearance of the official narratives. In this example, Rickman scooped the official version by a full three years. This is therefore the first full authentic description of Hawaii to appear in English, and the engraved frontispiece "Representation of the Murder of Capt. Cooke at O-Why-ee" is in fact the first representation of Hawaii in a printed book. Though published anonymously, this scarce and important account of the voyage was conclusively shown by Judge Howay (Zimmermann's Captain Cook, Toronto, 1930) to have been the work of John Rickman, a lieutenant on the voyage. His description of the voyage, as well as predating the official account, differs from it in many respects - particularly regarding the death of Cook, for which this is a prime source.
David Forbes identifies four variant states of the book ("A" to "D"), without assigning priority. This is an example of his state "B" with various identifying misprints and pagination errors. Many editions and versions of the book followed in later years, attesting to its popularity and importance.
Beddie, 1607; Forbes, 'Hawaiian National Bibliography', 33 (B); Hawaii One Hundred, 1; Hill, 1453; Hocken, p. 20 (wrongly attributing to Ledyard); Holmes, 38; Judd, 150; Kroepelien, 1076; Lada-Mocarski, 32; O'Reilly-Reitman, 415.
Condition Report: Very slight rubbing to binding but an excellent copy.
Price (AUD): $9,000.00
US$5,897.18 Other currencies