1749 A Voyage Round the World in the Years MDCCXL, i, ii, iii, iv. by George Anson, Esq; Now Lord Anson. 42 fold-outs. London, Knapton

A delightful, well-illustrated work from the Age of Exploration, recounting Lord Anson's exciting and eventful Voyage Round the World in the Years 1840-44, with forty-two fold-outs depicting battle scenes, animals, ships, maps, landscapes, seascapes, etc..

This copy with all forty-two numbered plates, but missing a frontis chart of the world. The plates are diverse in their subject matter and you'll find the obvious nautical themes, with harbor views, skirmishes, and maps for safe navigation; in addition Anson added illustrations of natives, their ships, landscapes, animals, etc. I've greatly enjoyed the collating (reviewing each page for completeness) of this book.

Rebound expertly by the conservator The Gilded Leaf in 2008, with age-appropriate Cambridge Style blind tooling to the boards.

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.

Physical Attributes -

Measures approx. 25.5 x 21 x 6.5 cm, 4to. Polished calf binding with Cambridge Panel Style blind tooling to the boards. Spine with five raised bands, and title in gilt on red morocco in one compartment. Forty-two foldout plates. Pages - xx, 417, (1 - blank). Signatures - A4, a4, b2, Z4, Zz4, Fff4, Ggg6 (6 is blank, and present). Several plates mounted out-of-order, but all present.

Bookplates of two previous owners on pastedown; "E. Donnelly, M.D. no. 362 Pittsburgh" (Edward Donnelly - I found record of him testifying at the cases of the Railroad Riots in 1877), and "Library of W.S. Kerruish" (who has some articles related to him and his Manx heritage).

ESTC - T74545

This copy does not a have any "directions to the binder" bound within.

Condition -

See pictures. Bindery ticket of "2008", binding with a few ring rubs; very light wear. Endpapers likely renewed, but laid paper (period correct) and the bookplates retained. Bookplates on pastedown. 1 cm tear at bottom-edge of blank front endpaper.

Missing frontis.

Title page toned around edges, likely from old turn-ins, and a few marks (light); a few chips around edges, erased "Edward Donnelly M.Doctor" at top edge and "1749" under printer's date, also corner bottom chipped. All pages share some light toning, and there's an occasional foxing. Occasional thumb mark. Pinhole in page number at top margin 55/56. Occasional dog-eared corner to page and plate. Occasional small tear near the gutter of the fold in plates. Occasional off-setting from the plates/maps. While the plates aren't perfect, I review many books and these are in good condition, with few fold tears and straight edges. 3 cm tear top margin plt. 20.

I nitpicked, but this book is wonderful to review, and a collector will enjoy it.