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XXVI, [1], [1 blank], 472; IV, 330, [1], 331-452 pp.First octavo edition of Beechey's account of his celebrated Pacific voyage, which was preceded by a quarto edition in the same year. It "is one of the most valuable of modern voyages and relates extensive visits to Pitcairn Island, Easter Island, the Tuamotu Archipelago, the Society Islands, the Mangareva (Gambier) Islands, and Tahiti, Alaska, Hawaii, Macao, Okinawa, and the coast of California" (Hill).Frederick William Beechey (1796-1856), English naval officer and hydrographer, was appointed to command the Blossom and to sail to the Bering Strait to assist in finding a northwest passage. In the winter and spring of 1826-1827 he visited California, Hawaii, Macao, the Ryukyu Islands (Japan) and the Philippines. The account also includes valuable descriptions of San Francisco and Monterey before the American conquest, with many details regarding the mission among the indigenous Americans.The plates include portraits of John Adams, indigenous Alaskans… Read More

[4], 360; [2], 134, [2], 135-194, [2], 195-“168” [= 268] pp.A collection of summaries and translations of the latest and best travel accounts, in the form of 41 letters by A. Norberg, C.C.L. Hirschfeld and others. Most importantly, vol. 2 (pp. 135-169) includes the Swedish translation of the biography of Captain Cook by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. This biography was first published in the Göttingisches Magazin der Wissenschaften und Litteratur (Göttingen, 1780), a journal edited by Lichtenberg and J.G.A. Forster. Other accounts in the two volumes cover the geography, natural history, people, customs and traditions of countries such as Italy, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland. The 41 letters that form the 2 volumes are divided into 6 parts, 3 in each volume. The present work was compiled and edited by Carl Christoffer Gjörwell (1731-1811), a Swedish journalist, prolific editor and publisher, bookseller, and librarian of the national library of Sweden. Binding of both volumes shows signs of wear,… Read More

[51], [1 blank], CXXVIII, 320, [2], [2 blank]; [16], 462, [2]; [2 blank], [14], 452, [2], [2 blank]; [16], 400, [2], [2 blank] pp.First edition of a German translation of the official account of Cook's third and last voyage, here with notes by the German librarian Johann Ludwig Wetzel (1736-1808). Captain James Cook (1728-1779) had returned from his second voyage in 1775, and volunteered in 1776 for a third voyage, "with specific instructions to investigate the coasts of the north Pacific, and to settle once and for all the question of the northwest passage" (Howgego). He sailed from Plymouth with the Resolution and the Discovery, the latter under command of Captain Charles Clerke (1741-1779). Via the Cape of Good Hope, Tasmania and New Zealand they reached the Pacific Ocean, where they discovered and mapped several islands. After some natives had stolen one of the Discovery's boats, Cook came ashore with a small party. The meeting escalated and during retreat Cook was overpowered by some native… Read More

XXXII, 440 pp.First and only Dutch edition of a description of the voyage of the ships Dobbs and California under the command of the captains Moor and Smith to Hudson Bay in Canada (1746-1747), where they unsuccessfully sought a North-West passage, first published in English in 1748. Henry Ellis, hydrographer and mineralogist, accompanied the expedition. Reaching the head of the bay they discovered to their dismay that its unnavigable rivers offered no further passage. In addition to debunking the theory of a North-West passage through Hudson Bay, the book gives valuable observations on tides and on eskimo life.Spine slightly rubbed; upper hinges weak. Good, uncut copy of a description of an unsuccesfull search for a North-West passage via Hudson Bay.l Cat NHSM, p. 301; Cox II, p. 8; JCB 927; Sabin 22315; cf. Howgego, to 1800, M162.

119" [=117], [1], [2 blank] pp.Very rare second edition of the first Swedish translation (abridged) of William Bligh's account of his voyage to Tahiti as commander of the Bounty and the mutiny and subsequent open-boat voyage of part of the crew in 1789, "one of the most remarkable incidents in the whole of maritime history" (Hill).In 1787, the English naval officer William Bligh (1754-1817), who had accompanied Captain Cook on his third voyage to the Pacific, was sent off to the Pacific for the purpose of introducing breadfruit trees from the South Sea Islands to the West Indies as cheap food for the slaves. After spending five months at Tahiti, he set sail for the Caribbean by way of Tonga, where the famous mutiny took place. Bligh and 18 of his men were set adrift in the ship's small launch boat and made a remarkable voyage to Timor. "In the course of this hazardous journey Bligh took the opportunity to chart and name parts of the unknown north-east coast of New Holland [= Australia] as he passed… Read More

[4], "376" [= 378] pp.A rare edition of the French translation of Rickman's account detailing James Cook's third and final voyage of discovery. Notwithstanding the statement on the title-page ("seconde édition"), two earlier editions were published in 1782. The frontispiece is a close copy of that in the first edition; the chart, the same as in the first edition, is lacking in most copies: "the three copies examined all lack a chart" (Forbes). Rickman, Second Lieutenant on board the Discovery, published anonymously, to avoid legal action. He had managed to keep his journal, even though everything was taken into possession and sealed. His account is an important supplement to the official publication. Some browning and soiling, otherwise in very good condition.l Beddie 1613; Forbes 55; Kroepelien 1081 (note: "The mysterious "Seconde édition" of Paris 1783 ... I have not seen"); cf. O'Reilly & Reitman 420 (2nd ed. of 1782).

VI, [2 blank], 56 pp.The 56-page issue, plus index, of the first edition of Hawaii's last constitution as a sovereign country, containing 103 numbered articles. When in 1893 Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii was overthrown, she was replaced by a provisional government consisting of members of the American Committee of Safety, striving to achieve annexation of Hawaii to the United States of America. When annexation was not forthcoming they set up a constitutional convention and adopted the present constitution for the Republic of Hawaii. The annexation was finally ratified four years later, the transfer of sovereignty taking place in August 1898. "The present constitution is among the more important pieces of literature pertinent to these times" (Streeter).Forbes notes that page 56 is unnumbered and blank ("[56] blank"), but in this copy it is numbered and contains the last names of the members of the constitutional convention. The present copy includes the 6-page index, often lacking.With a library stamp… Read More

118, [1], [1 blank]First and only edition of the German translation of a richly illustrated account of the first voyage of the French corvette Astrolabe to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific from 1826 to 1829. The expedition was led by the French naval officer Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (1790-1842). D'Urville describes his journey to Australia and gives a description of the British colony at New South Wales and of the native inhabitants; the plates include views of the port at King George's Sound, New South Wales, and portraits and illustrations of rituals of the native inhabitants. Dumont d'Urville soon continued to New Zealand, describing the many bays where he anchored and giving a general history of New Zealand. The lithographs show portraits of the inhabitants, male and female, of Tasman Bay, Cook Strait, "Astrolabe Bay", Tolaga Bay, Bay of Islands, and more, also showing the traditional tattoos on the inhabitants' faces and thighs. "The Astrolabe left the Bay of Islands… Read More

[12], 464; [8], 380; [6], “362” [=378]; [8], 407; [8], 435, [3]; [8], 418 pp.First edition of the collected miscellaneous writings of Georg Forster (1754-1794), parts previously published elsewhere, parts published here for the first time. Forster's fame was instantly established when he published an impressive account of James Cook's second voyage around the world in 1778-1780 and the first volume of the present set opens with a long essay entitled "Cook, der Entdecker" (Cook, the discoverer).Forster began the work, but after his death in 1794 L.F. Huber continued it. They deal with a variety of subjects, including Cook, New Holland, Tahiti, the breadfruit tree (with two folding illustrations), fur trade along the northwest coast of America, a description of North America, natural history (among other things Forster's oration in Vilnius and the preface to his dissertation), pygmies, Madagascar, Mindanao, etc. On the folding map of North America in volume 2, Forster suggested a possible route for a… Read More

XXII, [23]-398, [2]; 398 pp.First edition of the French translation of an important account of the Tonga islands by the English William Charles Mariner (1791-1853), who lived in Tonga for four years. When he was young, Mariner sailed in the privateer Porte au Prince to the New World with the objective of attacking Spanish ships and searching for whales. They seized several Spanish vessels and added several Hawaiians to the crew in 1806. Their visit to the Tonga Islands proved fatal: almost the entire the crew was massacred by the natives (ironically, James Cook had dubbed Tonga the "Friendly Islands"). The author, however, survived and lived there from circa 1806 to 1810, observing and recording Tonga culture with a keen eye for detail. Volume two includes some interesting notes on James Cook, who with his crew had met a friendly reception there. "Mariner's meticulous observations on Tonga make this a key historical text on the history and culture of this island group" (Forbes).From the library of… Read More

8 pp.First and only edition of a 1672 political pamphlet in the form of a spin-off from Henry Neville's very popular 1668 story of a voyage to the imaginary utopian/dystopian Isle of Pines. The present story is written as a conversation between three militia men on watch discussing the turbulent politics of 1672. One tells of his (fictitious) voyage and several years residence on a (fictitious) utopian island called Mallanbruino in the South Pacific. He says it is one degree south of the Isle of Pines. On Mallanbruino, the industrious people were oppressed by an emperor but rose up and defeated him with help from a prince, who also replaced the evil regents. They note the remarkable similarities to events in the Dutch Republic. The island then set up a new and fairer democratic representative political system, bringing peace and happiness to the island. The three men conclude that the Dutch Republic should introduce such a system.Some spots and a small restoration to the extremities of the title-page,… Read More

XVI, 440; 332, 109, [3] pp.; [1], 44 engraved ll.The first(?) octavo edition of a famous account of an important expedition to Australia and the surrounding islands, published in the same year as the first quarto edition, together with the very rare 1811 second edition of the atlas volume, printed from the plates of the first edition, which had also appeared in 1799/1800. Jacques La Billardière or Labillardière (1755-1834), one of the expedition's naturalists, gives not only a report of the expedition's anthropological and natural historical findings, but also a personal account of an attempt to solve a mystery that began on 10 March 1788 when the French explorer Jean-François Galaup de La Pérouse sailed out of Botany Bay, New South Wales, and was never seen again by Europeans. His disappearance was a matter of great national concern in France.In 1791, the French National Assembly sent a rescue expedition under the command of Antoine Raymond Joseph Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, who failed to find any… Read More

408, [4] pp.First edition of a very rare and little-known journal detailing an important voyage to the Pacific (1840-1841) by Francisco Michelena y Rojas, a native of Venezuela. The author first sailed for Hawaii, where he investigated the political history, traditions and customs. Having spent 33 days on the island, he sailed to Sydney, the Caroline Islands, the Philippines, Macao and Singapore. A few bibliographies erroneously say that it contains all seven of the author's voyages. In fact it is devoted entirely to the sixth, merely mentioning the others in the preface. It concludes with an errata page, a list of subscribers and a table of contents.Some browning and soiling, binding shows some wear, otherwise in good condition.l Ferguson 3697; Forbes 1431; Hill 1157; cf. Howgego, 1800-1850, M41.

48; [14], [2 blank] pp.Extremely rare German account of Captain Cook’s death, published in Tallinn in Estonia, "undoubtedly the first account of Cook's death to be published in book form" (Beddie), together with a letter concerning the 1775 Spanish voyage to the west coast of North America by Bodega y Quadra (1744-1794), also in German, with many references to Cook. The first work opens with a short poem on the death of the English navigator and hydrographer James Cook (1728-1779), who died during a scuffle with the Hawaiian natives on 14 February 1779, after his relations with them had deteriorated. It is followed by a foreword and "a short account of Cook's life, his voyages and his death, with many inaccuracies on his early career" (Beddie), also in German. Much of the information in this small booklet comes from a letter, Auszug des Briefes von Kensington den 4ten Febr. 1780 die Nachrichten von Kapitain Cook betressend.This letter "includes paraphrases of passages in Captain Charles Clerke's… Read More