A Collection of Voyages round the World: Performed by Royal Authority. Contaning a complete historical Account of Captain Cook's First, Second, Third and Last Voyages, Undertaken for making New Discoveries, &c viz

4 of 6 volumes. Volume 1: i-ix]-372 pages with 23 plates, including frontispiece plate of Cook, and 4 folding maps; Volume II lacking; Volume III: [793]-1184 pages with 11 plates, including frontispiece of Possession Bay, and 5 fold out maps; Volume IV: [1185]-1546 pages with 26 plates, including frontispiece of Woman, Child and Man of Van Diemen's Land, and 6 folding maps; Volume V: [1547]-1938 pages with 30 plates, including frontispiece of A View of Huaheine, and 8 folding maps; Volume VI lacking. Octavo (8 1/2" x 5 1/2") bound in original full leather with red labels to spine with gilt lettering. Abridged by George William Anderson. An earlier Large folio edition by Anderson was published earlier. This edition originally issued in 80 weekly parts, and also called the Large octavo edition. (M K Beddie: 39) First edition of the bound edition.

Captain James Cook RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer, ultimately rising to the rank of Captain in the Royal Navy. Cook made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean during which he achieved the first European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands as well as the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand. Cook joined the British merchant navy as a teenager and joined the Royal Navy in 1755. He saw action in the Seven Years' War, and subsequently surveyed and mapped much of the entrance to the Saint Lawrence River during the siege of Quebec. This helped bring Cook to the attention of the Admiralty and Royal Society. This notice came at a crucial moment both in his personal career and in the direction of British overseas exploration, and led to his commission in 1766 as commander of HM Bark Endeavour for the first of three Pacific voyages. Cook charted many areas and recorded several islands and coastlines on European maps for the first time. His achievements can be attributed to a combination of seamanship, superior surveying and cartographic skills, courage in exploring dangerous locations to confirm the facts (for example dipping into the Antarctic Circle repeatedly and exploring around the Great Barrier Reef), an ability to lead men in adverse conditions, and boldness both with regard to the extent of his explorations and his willingness to exceed the instructions given to him by the Admiralty. Cook was killed in Hawaii in a fight with Hawaiians during his third exploratory voyage in the Pacific in 1779.

Condition:

Lacks volume II and VI. First signature of volume one loose, inner hinges cracked, some interior soiling, spine ends and corners of leather rubbed, some scuffing to leather else a good set.