First edition, large royal-paper edition. 1748 A Voyage Round the World in the Years 1740-1744, George (Lord) Anson. 42 plates and more

1748 first edition (and the desirable large royal-paper subscription edition) of this important, exciting and well-illustrated work from the Age of Exploration, recounting Lord Anson's eventful Voyage Round the World in the Years 1740-44, with forty-two fold-out copper plates depicting landscapes, battle scenes, animals, ships, maps, charts, seascapes, etc.. This copy also includes the "Chart, Shewing the Track of the Centurion round the World", which isn't always present in the first edition. And, this copy includes the list of subscribers and instructions to the book binder!

About the Voyage -

After setting off later than planned, Anson's squadron encountered successive disasters. Two of his vessels, the fifth-rate HMS Pearl and the fourth-rate HMS Severn, failed to round Cape Horn and returned home. Meanwhile, the sixth-rate HMS Wager was wrecked off the coast of Chile, where the crew subsequently mutinied. The lateness of the season forced him to round the Horn in very stormy weather, and the navigating instruments of the time did not allow for exact observations.

By the time Anson reached the Juan Fernández Islands in June 1741, only three of his six ships remained, while the strength of his crews had fallen from 961 to 335. In the absence of any effective Spanish force on the coast, he was able to harass the enemy and to sack the small port city of Paita in Peru in November 1741. The steady decrease of his crews by scurvy and the worn-out state of his remaining consorts compelled him to collect all the remaining survivors in Centurion. He rested at the island of Tinian, and then made his way to Macao in November 1742.

After considerable difficulties with the Chinese, he sailed again with his one remaining vessel to cruise in search of one of the Manila galleons that conducted the trade between Mexico and the Chinese merchants in the Philippines, where he captured the Nuestra Senora de Covadonga with 1,313,843 pieces of eight on board, which he had encountered off Cape Espiritu Santo on 20 June 1743. The charts captured with the ship added many islands (and phantom islands) to the British knowledge of the Pacific, including the Anson Archipelago.

Anson took his prize back to Macao, sold her cargo to the Chinese, kept the specie, and sailed for England via the Cape of Good Hope. Passing by means of a thick fog a French fleet then patrolling the Channel, he reached England on 15 June 1744. The prize money earned from the capture of the galleon made Anson a rich man for life and bought him considerable political influence. - Wikipedia

About this Published Account -

“Walter had prepared an account of this voyage for the press, but it was found so badly executed, that Benjamin Robins, the mathematician, was employed to re-write it, although, for some reason or other, the worthy chaplain's name was allowed to remain on the title -page . It is called by some English writers a masterpiece of composition; but it appears to have been made amusing at the expense of truth. The progress of science formed no part of this expedition, which was prepared for attacking, unawares, the Spanish possessions and shipping in the South Sea, and which was so successful, that the prize-money divided amongst the officers and crews amounted to more than a million sterling. The Biographie Universelle says, that the views, charts and plans deserve praise for their exactness… The copies of the first edition, on royal paper, of which I now have one before me, were superior to any book of the kind which had been hitherto published, and were unequalled until Cook's voyages appeared. Of the large paper copies, 350 were taken by subscription.” – J. Sabin, A Dictionary of Books Relating to America, p. 213, 1868

Possible Provenance -

When a light is passed through the title page, a faint (Chas. E?) Mason appears; there is a Capt. Benjamin Mason listed in the list of subscribers.

Physical Attributes -

Binding measures approx. 30 x 24 x 6.5 cm. Leather binding. Boards framed by double gilt fillet. Re-spined, with five raised bands; one compartment with the the title in gilt on red morocco with a top and bottom decorative gilt roll on the label. The compartments are divided by double gilt fillet, and the spine leather is sprinkled to tone/age. Page edges red.

Leaves measure approximately 29.2 x 22 cm.

42 copper plates, many fold-out, and one additional chart at front.

Pages - xxxiv, 417, blank, (2 - instructions to the binder).

Collation - A4, a4, b1, c-d4, B-Z4,Aa-Zz4, Aaa-Fff4, Ggg6. Ggg6 is the instructions to binder sheet.

Condition -

See pictures. Binding rebacked, with edge and corner wear, as well as general wear to old boards. Top-edge toned. Graphite bookseller notes on pastedown and at top of instructions to binder. Turn-ins have ghosted facings pages.

Toned throughout, with occasional foxing and thumbing. Occasional page edge tear or chip. Title page with erased names at top, but still faintly visible (Chas. E Mason?); also, erasure rub through at bottom edge (repaired) and old ink mark near top margin. Verso of title ink smudge and ink smudge at bottom edge of A2. Wide margins throughout. Chart at N3 with some tears at folds. R3 has pronounced thumb. Plate at Cc4 has 1" tear at right side, as does Ss4. Chart at Aa2, fold-out, again with tears at folds. All of the large charts seem to have some damage at their fold lines. Edge wear to all foldout plates. Qq1, ink smudge, bottom edge. Last plate (Chinese vessels) and last several leaves more toned than others.

Binding is tight, and the margins are very wide, but the book does show some signs of use and aging.