1798. · London
by Vancouver, George
London: Printed for G.G. & J. Robinson and J. Edwards, 1798.. Four volumes including atlas volume of plates and maps. Quarto text volumes: [8],xxix,[8],432; [10],504; [10],505,[3]pp., plus eighteen plates. Folio atlas: Ten folding engraved charts, six engraved plates of coastal profiles. Text volumes: Contemporary mottled calf, gilt, expertly rebacked to style with richly gilt spines, leather labels. Internally very clean. Atlas: Bound in matching style in quarter calf and marbled boards, spine richly gilt, leather labels. Maps and coastal profiles mounted on guards, some slight soiling on a few margins. Very good. A cornerstone work on the exploration of the Pacific and the northwest coast of America. "This voyage became one of the most important ever made in the interests of geographical knowledge" - Hill.
Vancouver was put in command of the expedition on the recommendation of his former commanding officer, Alan Gardner. He had served earlier with Admiral Rodney and on James Cook's second and third voyages, so was well equipped in terms of experience; in addition, he was a first-class navigator. The voyage was mounted as a "grand-scale expedition to reclaim Britain's rights, resulting from the Nootka Convention, at Nootka Sound, to thoroughly examine the coast south of 60º in order to find a possible passage to the Atlantic; and to learn what establishments had been founded by other powers. This voyage became one of the most important ever made in the interests of geographical knowledge. Vancouver sailed by way of the Cape of Good Hope to Australia, where he discovered King George's Sound and Cape Hood, then to New Zealand, Hawaii, and the northwest coast of America. In three seasons' work Vancouver surveyed the coast of California; visited San Francisco and San Diego...and other Spanish settlements in Alta California; settled the necessary formalities with the Spanish at Nootka; investigated the Strait of Juan de Fuca; discovered the Strait of Georgia; circumnavigated Vancouver Island; and disproved the existence of any passage between the Pacific and Hudson Bay" (Hill).
Vancouver must be considered, along with Cook, La Pérouse, and Malaspina, as one the greatest explorers of the late 18th century. "All four visited the northwest coast, but only Vancouver surveyed the enormous extent of the coast from Southern California to Cook Inlet....His meticulous survey literally put on the map of the world the intricacies of Puget Sound, Hood Canal, and the western coast of mainland Canada" - Tweney. COWAN (1914), p.236 ("superior to any of its kind, and constitutes the chiefest source of authority of that period"). COWAN (1933), pp.654-55. COX II, p.30 ("one of the most important voyages ever made in the interests of geographical knowledge"). FERGUSON I:281. FITZPATRICK, EARLY MAPPING OF HAWAII, pp.39- 43 ("Vancouver's voyage resulted in the first published map of Hawaii to depict the islands in their entirety"). FORBES 298. GRAFF 4456. JCB 2009. JONES 667. JUDD 178. LADA-MOCARSKI 55. LANDE 1495. NMM 142. O'REILLY & REITMAN 635. SMITH, PACIFIC NORTHWEST AMERICANA 10469. STATON & TREMAINE 688. STRATHERN 582. STREETER SALE 3497. TWENEY 78. WAGNER NORTHWEST COAST, pp.853-60. WANTRUP 63a. WICKERSHAM 6601. ZAMORANO 80, 77. A. David, "Vancouver's Methods and Surveys" in Fisher & Johnston (editors), FROM MAPS TO METAPHORS: THE PACIFIC WORLD OF GEORGE VANCOUVER (UBC Press, 1993), p.68. REESE, BEST OF THE WEST 21. (Inventory #: WRCAM40755B)
Vancouver was put in command of the expedition on the recommendation of his former commanding officer, Alan Gardner. He had served earlier with Admiral Rodney and on James Cook's second and third voyages, so was well equipped in terms of experience; in addition, he was a first-class navigator. The voyage was mounted as a "grand-scale expedition to reclaim Britain's rights, resulting from the Nootka Convention, at Nootka Sound, to thoroughly examine the coast south of 60º in order to find a possible passage to the Atlantic; and to learn what establishments had been founded by other powers. This voyage became one of the most important ever made in the interests of geographical knowledge. Vancouver sailed by way of the Cape of Good Hope to Australia, where he discovered King George's Sound and Cape Hood, then to New Zealand, Hawaii, and the northwest coast of America. In three seasons' work Vancouver surveyed the coast of California; visited San Francisco and San Diego...and other Spanish settlements in Alta California; settled the necessary formalities with the Spanish at Nootka; investigated the Strait of Juan de Fuca; discovered the Strait of Georgia; circumnavigated Vancouver Island; and disproved the existence of any passage between the Pacific and Hudson Bay" (Hill).
Vancouver must be considered, along with Cook, La Pérouse, and Malaspina, as one the greatest explorers of the late 18th century. "All four visited the northwest coast, but only Vancouver surveyed the enormous extent of the coast from Southern California to Cook Inlet....His meticulous survey literally put on the map of the world the intricacies of Puget Sound, Hood Canal, and the western coast of mainland Canada" - Tweney. COWAN (1914), p.236 ("superior to any of its kind, and constitutes the chiefest source of authority of that period"). COWAN (1933), pp.654-55. COX II, p.30 ("one of the most important voyages ever made in the interests of geographical knowledge"). FERGUSON I:281. FITZPATRICK, EARLY MAPPING OF HAWAII, pp.39- 43 ("Vancouver's voyage resulted in the first published map of Hawaii to depict the islands in their entirety"). FORBES 298. GRAFF 4456. JCB 2009. JONES 667. JUDD 178. LADA-MOCARSKI 55. LANDE 1495. NMM 142. O'REILLY & REITMAN 635. SMITH, PACIFIC NORTHWEST AMERICANA 10469. STATON & TREMAINE 688. STRATHERN 582. STREETER SALE 3497. TWENEY 78. WAGNER NORTHWEST COAST, pp.853-60. WANTRUP 63a. WICKERSHAM 6601. ZAMORANO 80, 77. A. David, "Vancouver's Methods and Surveys" in Fisher & Johnston (editors), FROM MAPS TO METAPHORS: THE PACIFIC WORLD OF GEORGE VANCOUVER (UBC Press, 1993), p.68. REESE, BEST OF THE WEST 21. (Inventory #: WRCAM40755B)
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