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A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas by PARKINSON, Sydney [COOK, Capt. James]
Book Description
London: Printed for Stanfield Parkinson, 1773. First edition. Quarto (13 5/8 x 10 7/8 inches; 348 x 278 mm). xxiii, [1], 212, [2, errata] pp. Engraved frontispiece and twenty-six engraved plates, including one map, all after Sydney Parkinson. Contemporary marbled boards, expertly rebacked with chocolate morocco spine, recornered in morocco, gilt lettered leather label on spine. Offsetting from a few of the plates. Rear endpaper creased. Darkening to very top right corner of front endpaper (offsetting from the corner of front cover). Otherwise a clean, excellent Large Paper copy and quite rare thus. Sydney Parkinson was employed by Banks on Cook's first voyage as natural history draughtsman. "He made numerous drawings of botanical and other subjects, including landscapes and portraits of chiefsÉBanks spoke highly of his 'unbound industry' in making for him a much larger collection of drawings than he anticipated. His observations, too, were valuable, and the vocabularies of South Sea languages given in his journal are of great interest" (Hill). Although it actually preceded Hawkesworth's official Account of the Voyages, the publication of Parkinson's Journal was stopped by an injunction in Chancery, and the book was suppressed after only a few copies had appeared. After Hawkesworth's Account was published, Parkinson's book was re-issued (1784) with an additional 142 pages and a world map. Parkinson died of dysentry at Batavia on the way home from the South Seas voyage; his journal was edited by his brother, Stanfield Parkinson. Hill, pp. 223-4. Sabin 58787.
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