Exploration. 1785 A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean..., Captain Cook and Captain King. 2nd edition

This second edition (1785) set of Captain Cook and King's A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean... bears fascinating provenance. The ex libris plate is that of William Seymour Blackstone, the grandson of the Blackstone of the law commentaries. At the bottom of the pastedowns are the bookseller tickets of Angus and Robertson at 112 Market Street Sydney, a location they inhabited until 1895 (Wikipedia). Then, throughout the volumes are the stamps of "Colonial Secretary's Office" and the FEPs all have a note, "This book was one of a Collection associated with the name of Sir Henry Parkes, and housed in the Chief Secretary's Department of New South Wales until 1956".

The set's known provenance begins in England, at the Blackstone family. After William Seymour Blackstone's insolvency, they found their way to Australia, through the sellers Angus and Robertson (still in business), arriving at the Australian (New South Wales) Colonial Secretary's Office, where the set seems to have presided through Federation, and a note takes care to state that the book was in the sphere of Sir Henry Parkes. The Parkes reference isn't without support, as Parkes was a Cook admirer (for example, the Cook statue in Hyde Park, Sydney, was partly instigated by Parkes; there is an existing letter where Parkes asks the sculptor to send a design with specific size and material specifications).

This set lacks the folio atlas that accompanies some sets (but also increases the cost to approximately four times as much). Else, it is complete. I have verified all the non-folio sized plates are present (maps and views).

This work captures Captain Cook's final expedition (1776-1780), where he journeyed extensively through the Pacific. During this trip, Cook visited many islands and captured some documentation of their cultures, language, fauna, etc. Unfortunately, in 1779, Cook lost his life in a skirmish with the natives of the Big Island, Hawaii. Cook's successor, Captain King, concludes the work (the first two volumes being taken from the writings of Cook) in the third volume.

Bibliographic Details -

Worldcat OCLC number 20251654 (among others). Not rare, this was a popular work.

Physical Attributes -

Each vol. measures approx. 30 x 24 x 4 cm. Leather spines and corners, with marbled paper covered boards. Spines with six compartments separated by gilt fillets; four compartments with central florets in blind, two compartments with "Cook's Voyages and the Vol in gilt. Illustrated (but only with the non-folio illustrations).

Pages:

All three title pages are stand-alone plates and the gatherings start at the next leaf.

Volume 1 - Title page leaf, viii (not numbered), xcvi (intro), 1-421 (1)

Volume 2 - Title page leaf, xii (not numbered), 1-548

Volume 3 - Title page leaf, xii (not numbered), 1-556

Collation:

Volume 1 - Title leaf, A4, a-m4, B-Z4, Aa-Zz4, 3A4-3G4, 3H3 (3H3 is odd, and it might be missing a blank last leaf, but the OCLC listing does not mention one).

Volume 2 - Title leaf, A4, a2, B-Z4, Aa-Zz4, 3A-3Z4, 4A2

Volume 3 - Title leaf, A4, a2, B-Z4, Aa-Zz4, 3A-3Z4, 4A-4B4, 4C2

Condition -

See pictures. Well worn, with rubbing corner wear, etc. Joints/hinges are cracked and v2 front board attached only by the binding cords; evidence of previous repair.

Ex libris plate to all pastedowns, ticket of bookseller (Sydney) and note from someone circa 1956 pasted into each volume FEP. Ex library with many stamps throughout (see provenance).

Foxed and some toning throughout (worst towards ends and v1). Occasional thumb, dog-eared corner, page edge/corner chip, errant ink mark, etc throughout. 2nd volume title page creased.

This set does not include the atlas with the folio sized engravings; all the smaller engravings (those without the "*" in the engravings list, are present, which are maps and views).