77 111VANCOUVER, George. A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and Round the World. London, 1798. Three volumes, plus atlas. Four volumes in all. Quarto, contemporary full brown calf rebacked. Atlas: large folio, modern three-quarter speckled brown morocco over earlier paper boards. $55,000 First edition of this comprehensive survey of the North Pacific, illustrated with 17 plates and a chart. Complete with large folio atlas volume, with an additional ten large folding engraved charts and six engraved views, offering what are probably the first published views of California. “This voyage became one of the most important ever made in the interests of geographical knowledge. Vancouver sailed by way of the Cape of Good Hope to Australia, where he discovered King George’s Sound and Cape Hood, then to New Zealand, Hawaii, and the northwest coast of America… surveyed the coast of California... discovered the Strait of Georgia, circumnavigated Vancouver Island, and disproved the existence of any passage between the Pacific and Hudson Bay” (Hill, 303-04). Text with marginal wormholing in Volume I, occasional light dampstaining in Volume II, mostly marginal, plates embrowned at edges; atlas volume with maps and views in unusually nice condition, occasional expert restoration to margins, a few closed tears at folds. Rare and important. “One Of The Most Important Accounts Of The Exploration Of The Pacific Northwest And New Zealand”
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