First Edition. The fame Cook had achieved by his first voyage allowed him to write the account of his second and historically most important voyage himself. The goal of this voyage was to circumnavigate the world as far south as possible in search of the unknown, namely the great ‘Southern Continent’ commonly supposed to exist. The ships went east via the Cape of Good Hope, crossed the southern ocean south of Australia and actually crossed the Antarctic Circle, making Cook the first man to get so close to the South Pole. Whilst disproving the existence of an enormous land mass, Cook discovered, or revisited, many of the islands in the south Pacific, including New Caledonia, Palmerston and Norfolk, Easter Island, the Marquesas, New Hebrides, Tonga, the South Sandwich Islands and South Georgia. In addition to the detailed description of the geographical, botanical and cultural discoveries on their way towards the south pole, Cook also deals with the organizational problems on a ship on an expedition of such a large scale. “Cook was a brilliant navigator and hydrographer, an excellent administrator and planner, and probably the first sea captain to realize the important of preserving the health and well-being of his crew. He did everything possible to maintain their physical fitness and the cleanliness of both men and ships. He conquered the hitherto prevalent scurvy by cutting down the consumption of salt meat and by always having fresh vegetables and fruit on board; in particular limes (first suggested by James Lind in 1775), whence the terms ‘lime-juicer’ and ‘limey’ for a British ship and her sailors. On his second voyage, of 112 men on board the Resolution, which he commanded, Cook lost only one by disease - and that not scurvy - a unique achievement in his time.” (Printing and the Mind of Man 223). The Cook voyages form the basis for any collection of Pacific explorations and are also important for Antarctic collectors.
2 volumes, 4to, pp. xl + 378; [viii] + 396. Finely rebound with 18th century tree calf boards, expertly rebacked to style, extra decoration to spine gilt, red and green title labels gilt, tooling to borders gilt. Complete with frontispiece, 48 engraved plates (including 25 folding), 14 maps (including 6 folding) and 1 folding table, after drawings made by W. Hodges during the voyage. Crisp and clean and with minimal professional conservation, untrimmed with very generous margins. With the publisher’s imprint present on the portrait of Captain Cook. Rare and a fine copy, exceptional in this state.
