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COOK, Capt. James (1728-1779) and Captain James KING
A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean... for making Discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere... performed under the Direction of Captains Cook, Clerke, and Gore, in His Majesty's Ships the Resolution and Discovery; in the Years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, and 1780.
London: H. Hughs for G. Nicol and T. Cadell, 1785. 4 volumes (Text: 3 vols., quarto [12 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches]; Atlas vol. of plates: 1 vol., large folio [22 1/4 x 15 3/4 inches]). Text: plates and text on wove paper. 2 stipple-engraved portraits (1 of Cook, 1 of King) by F. Bartolozzi after J. Webber, engraved medallion portrait vignettes on two titles, 1 folding letterpress table, 24 engraved maps, coastal profiles and charts (13 folding). Atlas vol.: 63 engraved plates, plans and maps (one double-page, one folding). Text and Atlas: expertly bound to style in half 18th-century russia over blue sugar paper-covered boards, spines gilt in compartments with dark red morocco lettering-piece in the second compartment, numbered or lettered direct to third compartment.
A fine and very rare set with uncut large paper copies of the text, with the letterpress on wove paper - a combination that is apparently unrecorded by the standard bibliographies. The second (and best) edition of the official account of Cook's third and last voyage including images of and text on the exploration of Hawaii and the west coast of America, Canada and Alaska.
The fact that copies of the text printed on wove paper can be described as being from a large paper issue has not been recorded before: only Forbes of the specialist bibliographies notes the existence of text printed on wove rather than laid paper (King George III's copy in the British Library, pressmarks 213.d.10-12 and C.180.h.11), and only Lowndes notes a large-paper issue: "Of the second edition of the third Voyage there are copies printed on Large Paper" (vol.I, p.515). The link between wove paper and large paper copies has not been noted: the present set shows that the uncut height of a copy on wove paper is about 12 3/4 inches, whilst the laid paper copy is about 12 1/4 inches. In addition the present copy has the fine stipple-engraved portraits of Cook and King which, according to Forbes, are "occasionally added as frontispieces" (vol.I, p.78): these seem to be rare. For instance, King George III's copy has proof plates in the atlas; the "Death of Cook" plate; and the full suite of Webber plates, but it does not include these two portraits.
The setting of the text used to print this issue seems to be identical to that used for the regular copies, so the use of wove paper is probably the only certain way of recognising a large paper copy. In the 1780s wove paper was still something of a luxury, and its limited use for the letterpress in the present work offers the possibility that only copies intended for presentation were printed in this way. This would explain the presentation inscription in the Dixson Library set, which includes the observation that the second edition text volumes are "much superior to the first in both paper & letter press."
"Cook's third voyage was organized to seek the Northwest Passage and to return [the islander] Omai to Tahiti. Officers of the crew included William Bligh, James Burney, James Colnett, and George Vancouver. John Webber was appointed artist to the expedition. After calling at Kerguelen Island, Tasmania, New Zealand, and the Cook, Tonga, and Society Islands, the expedition sailed north and discovered Christmas Island and the Hawaiian Islands, which Cook named the Sandwich Islands. Cook charted the American west coast from Northern California through the Bering Strait as far north as latitude 70 degrees 44 minutes before he was stopped by pack ice. He returned to Hawaii for the winter and was killed in an unhappy skirmish with the natives. Charles Clarke took command and after he died six months later, the ships returned to England under John Gore. Despite hostilities with the United States and France, the scientific nature of this expedition caused the various governments to exempt these vessels from capture. The voyage resulted in what Cook judged his most valuable discovery - the Hawaiian Islands" (Hill).
Cf. Beddie 1543; cf. Forbes 62; cf. Hill (2004) 361; cf. Holmes 47; cf. Lada-Mocarski 37; cf. Lowndes I, p.515; cf. Printing and the Mind of Man 223; cf. Sabin 16250
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#19425 $35,000.00 
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© 2002-2005 Donald A. Heald
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