#OA8
1774
First English Edition. Octavo. Ca. 7 ½ x 5 in, 19x12,5 cm. 2 parts in one volume, xx, 118, ii with a half-title and an engraved folding outline hand coloured map by T. Kitchin. With an important Arctic Provenance: Frederick Albert Cook’s (1865-1940) copy. “Cook was an American explorer, physician and ethnographer, who is most known for allegedly being the first to reach the North Pole on April 21, 1908”(Wikipedia).
Full speckled period-style calf, raised bands with the leather spine label. Rear board slightly scuffed. Light foxing. Overall a very good copy.
This English edition was published in the same year as the German edition but additionally includes a translation of Le Roy's 'A Narrative of the Singular Adventures of Four Russian Sailors, Who Were Cast Away on the Desert Island of East-Spitzbergen.' “The author was Secretary to the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg and a member of the Royal Society of London. In the present work he attempted to present the gradual progress of the new Russian discoveries of islands in the North Pacific, including the Aleutian Islands, Kodiak and Unalashka islands, and a number of others. Staehlin states that his compilation is based on the original reports of Russian traders who, under a convoy from the Admiralty, commanded by Lieutenant Sind (“Syndo’), spent 1764-67 exploring the North Pacific area, discovering new islands and confirming previous discoveries” (Lada-Mocarski 20 (German Edition)). "An important work in the history of the northwest coast exploration, which deals largely with the [Aleutian Islands and the] islands of the Bering Sea, discovered by the Promyschleniki Commercial Company on their trading voyages beyond Kamchatka. The work gives information on the people and wildlife of these islands" (Hill 1624). "Geographical information on what was then a little-known region. The map shows Alaska as an island and indicates routes of various eighteenth century expeditions through Bering's straits" (Howes S863). Arctic Bibliography 16667.
