"THE STUDY OF COOK IS THE ILLUMINATION OF ALL DISCOVERY": ANDERSON'S ILLUSTRATED FOLIO EDITION

(COOK, James). ANDERSON, George William, editor. A New, Authentic, and Complete Collection of Voyages Round the World, Undertaken and Performed by Royal Authority. Containing a… Complete Historical Account of Captain Cook's First, Second, Third and Last Voyages… to Which Will be Added, Complete and Genuine Narratives of Other Voyages of Discovery Round the World, &c. London: Printed for Alex. Hogg, [1784-86]. Large folio, contemporary tree calf, rebacked with original red leather spine label laid down, elaborately gilt-decorated spine with ship motifs, raised bands. $5500.

First edition of "an early and important collected edition of Cook's three voyages" (Forbes), adding several other expedition narratives in one oversized folio volume, richly illustrated with 157 copper-engraved plates and charts—including a folding map of the world.

Facing challenges surpassed only by modern space flight, Captain James Cook embodied the spirit of the great age of maritime discovery. The only 18th-century explorer to lead more than one Pacific voyage, he embarked on three circumnavigations between 1768 and 1776, essentially transforming into their modern form the dangerously unreliable maps of the Pacific's expanse and the New World's western coast. Official accounts of his three voyages, with their remarkable engravings and splendid atlas, found an eager public, the first edition of the final voyage selling out in three days. In the words of his principal biographer, "the study of Cook is the illumination of all discovery."

"The famous accounts of Captain Cook's three voyages form the basis for any collection of Pacific books. In three great voyages Cook did more to clarify the geographical knowledge of the Southern Hemisphere than all his predecessors had done together. He was the first really scientific navigator and his voyages made great contributions to many fields of knowledge" (Hill). In his first voyage (1768-1771), Cook observed the Transit of Venus at Tahiti, rediscovered and charted New Zealand, and discovered and charted the east coast of Australia. In his second voyage (1772-75), Cook crossed the Antarctic Circle for the first time in history and disproved the existence of the supposed "Great Southern Continent"; in his third voyage (1776-79), he searched for the North-West Passage, charted the American west coast from Northern California through the Bering Strait, and discovered the Hawaiian Islands, which he named the Sandwich Islands. This especially important third voyage was "the first voyage attempting an adequate examination and charting of our northwest coast" (Howes C729a). "Cook was the first navigator to accurately map the coast, and, by carrying away a collection of furs, he introduced the fur trade to the English and American traders, whose subsequent expeditions were based upon his discoveries… no other contemporaneously printed source narrative is of comparable importance" (Eberstadt 127: 353).

This oversized, illustrated compilation adds the travelogues of Byron, Wallis, Carteret, Mulgrave, Anson and others to Anderson's edited versions of Cook's journals. "Anderson sometimes gives the original accounts, others are edited or abridged versions, and frequently additional materials, from other sources, are added to give scope and depth to the narratives" (Hill). Forbes' Hawaiian National Bibliography describes several states of the title page; the present example matches most points for his state III, no clear priority. Beddie 19. Cox I, 22. Forbes 61. Hill 18. Howgego I: C176. Sabin 52455. PMM 223. Bookplate.

Occasional minor spotting and staining; a few leaves with short closed tears, including title page and folding map, both with small repairs; one leaf with lower outer corner torn away, affecting a few words. Original leather worn, front cover partially refurbished. A handsome copy.