[RICKMAN, JOHN.]
Journal of Captain Cook's Last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean ... in the Years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779. London: E. Newbery, 1781.
8vo (200 x 120 mm). [4], xlvi, 388, [2] errata pp. Folding engraved frontispiece of the death of Cook, 4 plates (one folding, three of the plates by Royce, two of these after Dodd), map supplied in facsimile. Period calf. Frontispiece with tear repaired and edges strengthened with tape, rebacked preserving original spine.
FIRST EDITION OF THIS SCARCE AND IMPORTANT ACCOUNT of Cook's final voyage. The plate showing the death of Cook is the first representation of the Hawaiian Islands. The account of the Islands in the text also has a claim to being the first description, dependent on the unestablished priority of Rickman and Johann Heinrich Zimmerman's Reise um de Welt mit Captain Cook. As with most unofficial accounts, Rickman's is valued for recording matters omitted in the official record (not published until 1784), including the details of the circumstances surrounding Cook's death. Howes R176; Hill p 517; Lada-Mocarski 32; Sabin 36707.
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Auction Notices
- The errata leaf beginning "the candid reader" is found only in a few copies, only one example being located by Forbes.
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