COOK, Captain James (1728-1779) and Captain James KING (1750-1784) - photo 1
COOK, Captain James (1728-1779) and Captain James KING (1750-1784) - photo 2
COOK, Captain James (1728-1779) and Captain James KING (1750-1784) - photo 3
COOK, Captain James (1728-1779) and Captain James KING (1750-1784) - photo 4
COOK, Captain James (1728-1779) and Captain James KING (1750-1784) - photo 5
COOK, Captain James (1728-1779) and Captain James KING (1750-1784) - photo 6

COOK, Captain James (1728-1779) and Captain James KING (1750-1784)

Lot 127
11.12.2024 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
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CHRISTIE'S
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
ID 1349631
Lot 127 | COOK, Captain James (1728-1779) and Captain James KING (1750-1784)
Estimate value
£ 7 000 – 10 000
COOK, Captain James (1728-1779) and Captain James KING (1750-1784)
Troisième voyage de Cook, ou voyage a l'océan Pacifique... pour faire des decouvertes dans l'hemisphere nord...Traduit de l'anglois par M.D[emeunier]. Paris: Hotel de Thou, 1785
Magnificent copy of the first French edition of Cook’s third voyage, from the library of Maria Feodorovna, Empress of Russia (1759-1829). Cook’s third voyage of exploration aboard the Resolution and Discovery, aimed to establish the existence of a Northwest Passage connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic islands located north of Canada. The ships sailed from Plymouth on 12 July 1776, rounded the tip of Africa and reached New Zealand and Polynesia (Tonga and Tahiti) during 1777. Heading north, Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands in January 1778, which they named the Sandwich Islands, then stopped two months later in Nootka Pass, on the coast of British Columbia, Canada. They then explored the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands and crossed the Bering Strait in August. However, icebergs and icy winds prevented them from continuing their journey and forced them to return to the Hawaiian Islands to overwinter. On 6 December 1778, the ships anchored at Hawaii, the largest island in the archipelago, where Cook received a very warm welcome. In February 1779, he set sail from the island but damage to the Resolution forced him to return to Hawaii. Unfortunately, Cook’s arrival seems to have coincided with a series of liturgical rites relating to the worship of the Polynesian god Lono, and in the midst of rising tensions, Cook and his men were attacked in Kealakekua Bay on 14 February, leading to the death of Cook and four marines, with two other British personnel wounded. Command was then assumed by Captain Charles Clerke of the Discovery, and he continued the mission with another attempt to find the Northwest Passage through the Bering Strait. When Clerke died of tuberculosis on 22 May 1779, command passed to Captain John Gore on the Resolution, with James King on the Discovery. The ships returned to England in August 1780, and the official account of the voyage was completed by King, published in 1784 in London. Beddie 1556 & 1557; Sabin 16261 (mistakenly calling for octavo format).

4 text volumes, quarto (258 x 192mm) and one atlas, large quarto (262 x 220mm). Half-titles to text volumes, folding letterpress table in vol. 4, errata leaf at end of vol. 4, 88 engraved plates and maps numbered 1-87 and with the unnumbered plate ‘Mort de Cook’ bound at beginning of atlas vol., mostly double-page or double-page and folding (text vols: some occasional light unobtrusive browning and spotting affecting a few gatherings slightly more heavily, vol. 1 with short marginal tear to 2L2 and small hole and tear to margin of 3E2, vol. 2 with faint marginal dampstain in places more heavily affecting and spreading into text in gatherings Y-X and 3G, vol. 4 with short marginal tear to 2O3; atlas: ‘Mort de Cook’ plate with a few tiny marginal holes outside plate mark, variable light browning and offsetting, affecting plate 22 more heavily). Contemporary red morocco, covers with a border of a twisted rope roll within single fillets, spines gilt in six compartments with raised bands, the first and six compartments with monogram ‘FM’ and Russian imperial eagle respectively, citron morocco gilt lettering pieces to second compartments, the others with a circle and single small star within gilt compartment border, gilt edges and turn-ins (vol. 4 erroneously numbered 3, and vice-versa, extremities lightly rubbed). Provenance: Maria Feodorovna, Empress of Russia (1759-1829; binding) – evidence of bookplates removed.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
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SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
11.12.2024 – 11.12.2024
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