Cook, Captain James--Forster, George

FIRST EDITION, 2 volumes, 4to (285 x 220mm.), (vol.1) xviii, [ii], 602pp., [ii pp. errata]; (vol.2) [iv], 608pp., large folding engraved map, contemporary diced russia, double raised bands, orange marbled endpapers and edges, map slightly offset

Matthew Boulton, manufacturer and entrepreneur, book label

BCJC 1247; Hill (2004) 625; Holmes 23; Sabin 25130

A fine copy
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This important work is the first published account of Cook's second voyage during which he sailed round the world in the Resolution. It was perhaps the most important of Cook's three voyages, and during it the Antarctic circle was crossed for the first time. In the Pacific Cook visited New Zealand, New Caledonia, Palmerston, the Norfolk Islands, Easter Island, the Marquesas, New Hebrides, Tonga and Sandwich Islands. Johann Reinhold Forster and Johann George Adam Forster, father and son, accompanied Cook as naturalists aboard the Resolution. It was originally intended that the elder Forster should write the official record of the voyage, but after a dispute with the Admiralty the offer was withdrawn (cf. lot 300). Therefore, the Forsters issued their own narrative which preceded the official one by about six weeks. It contains a complete account of the researches into the natural history of the Pacific and the discoveries made during the voyage.