Account of the Russian Discoveries between Asia and America. To which are added, the Conquest of Siberia, and the History of the Transactions and Commerce between Russia and China... by Coxe, William - 1780

4to. London: J. Nichols for T. Cadell, 1780. 4to, xxii, 344, [13, index] pp. Folding plate, 4 folding maps. Contemporary calf scuffed and tips worn, rebacked retaining the original gilt backstrip with black label, hinges strengthened with cloth. Internally fresh and clean. § First edition. This is an important source on Russian exploration and expansion into the Northern Pacific, and the attempt to open trade with Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. Coxe, who travelled to Russia as tutor to the Earl of Pembroke's son, took advantage of his stay to collect, compare, and translate journals of voyages subsequent to that of Bering and Tschirikoff in 1741. He collected maps at St. Petersburg, consulted with authorities, and included several narratives "never before given to the public", directing the "curious and inquisitive reader" to compare them to Cook's then unpublished journals. The second part, on Siberia, largely taken from works by Muller and Pallas, includes an interesting account of a Russian-Chinese frontier town in Mongolia (illustrated by a large folding plate) and notes on Chinese-Russian trade. Bibliography: Cox II, pp.24-25. Hill p. 71. Lada-Mocarski 29. Streeter 3472.