George Forster | A Voyage round the world, 1777, 2 volumes, 4to, calf

George Forster

A Voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty’s Sloop Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook. London: B. White, J. Robson, P. Elmsly, G. Robinson, 1777

FIRST EDITION, 2 volumes, 4to (282 x 225mm.), large folding engraved chart, errata leaf at end of volume 1, contemporary speckled calf, rebacked retaining original spines

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the elder Forster should write the official record of the voyage, but after a dispute with the Admiralty the offer was withdrawn. 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.

LITERATURE:

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

PROVENANCE:

Henry Gee Barnard, bookplate; Scot Clifford, bookplate