Byron, John

BYRON, JOHN--[CLERKE, C.] A Voyage round the World in His Majesty's Ship the Dolphin [1764-1766], commanded by the Honourable Commodore Byron... by an officer on board the said ship. London: J. and F. Newbery, 1767, 3 engraved plates, 2pp. adverts at end

BYRON, JOHN. The Narrative of the Honourable John Byron... containing an account of the great distresses suffered... on the coast of Patagonia, from the year 1740... also a relation of the loss of the Wager, man of war. London: S. Baker, G. Leigh, and T. Davies, 1768, half-title, engraved frontispiece



2 works in one volume, FIRST EDITIONS, 8vo (205 x 120mm.), contemporary calf, somewhat rubbed, corners worn, rebacked

Thomas Fraser Duff, bookplate

Borba de Moraes p.138 (first work); Hill (2004) 311 & 232; Sabin 9732 & 9730

the condition of this lot is as described in the catalogue description
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Accounts of two separate voyages by John Byron, grandfather of the poet Lord Byron.

The first work describes his voyage from Plymouth on the Dolphin in July 1764, sailing via Rio de Janeiro and the Straits of Magellan to the Pacific, and round the world. "Although the voyage made no significant discoveries, it did claim the Falkland Islands for Britain and set a record of twenty-two months for a circumnavigation. The voyage was also notable in losing only six of its 153 crew to disease, and none of them to scurvy" (Howgego, Exploration, B200).

The second describes an earlier voyage in George Anson's fleet as midshipman in the Wager, beginning in 1740. The mission was to raid the coast of Pacific South America, but the fleet became separated and the Wager was wrecked on an island off the Chilean coast and the survivors were taken prisoner by the Spanish. The narrative supplied Lord Byron with details for the shipwreck in Canto II of Don Juan.