An Account of a Geographical and Astronomical Expedition to the Northern Parts of Russia…
An Account of a Geographical and Astronomical Expedition to the Northern Parts of Russia, for ascertaining the degrees of latitude and longitude of the mouth of the River Kovima; of the whole coast of the Tshutski, to East Cape; and of the islands in the Eastern Ocean, stretching to the American Coast. Performed, By Command of Her Imperial Majesty Catherine the Second…
London: A. Strahan, 1802.
Quarto, xxvi, (1, errata), 332, 58 (Appendix) pp. With a large folding map before the title page, and 14 engraved plates. A clean crisp copy entirely uncut and partially unopened in antique-style boards, paper backstrip lettered in black.
The Captain's secretary's full account of the Billings voyage
First and only edition in English of the Englishman Sauer's full account of the Billings voyage, on which he travelled as secretary to the Captain: the classic description of the Aleutian Islands. This was the last of the major Russian surveys of the eastern coast of Siberia, and accomplished a great deal of geographical research. They visited Kodiak, Montague Island and Prince William Sound, and saw Mount St. Elias.
First and only edition in English of the Englishman Sauer's full account of the Billings voyage, on which he travelled as secretary to the Captain: the classic description of the Aleutian Islands. This was the last of the major Russian surveys of the eastern coast of Siberia, and accomplished a great deal of geographical research. They visited Kodiak, Montague Island and Prince William Sound, and saw Mount St. Elias.
Billings's naval career had started under Cook: he sailed as an able-bodied seaman on the Discovery, transferring on Cook's death to the Resolution. His voyage included a revisiting of Kamchatka where Captain Clerke, who had taken over the command of the third voyage after Cook's death, had been buried. One of the plates in this publication shows Clerke's grave.
Sauer's is the "first account in English of the first major exploring expedition sent out by the Russians to the Frozen Ocean and the North Pacific after Bering's second expedition of 1741… The chart was made by Arrowsmith from Sauer's notes and Captain Billings's astronomical observations…" (Streeter). The large folding map is of Bering's Strait and the American and Asian coasts. The appendices include linguistic tables, one of which compares Kamchatkan, Aleutian and Kodiak dialects.
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Hill, 1528; Howes, S117; Lada-Mocarski, 58.
Condition Report: Some foxing in one gathering.
Price (AUD): $3,850.00
US$2,541.28 Other currencies