Beschreibung:

First printed account of Cook's second voyage John Marra, 1775 COOK, James (1728-1779) – MARRA, John. Journal of the Resolution's Voyage, in 1772, 1773, 1774, and 1775. On Discovery to the Southern Hemisphere ... also a Journal of the Adventure's Voyage, in the years 1772, 1773, and 1774. London: F. Newbery, 1775. The first edition of the “first printed account of man's entry into the region South of the Antarctic Circle, with rare additional chart facing p. 1” (Spence). “This rare account of Cook's second voyage was published surreptitiously eighteen months before Cook's official narrative. It records many incidents omitted by Cook and gives the reasons which caused Sir Joseph Banks and his twelve assistants to withdraw from the expedition at the last moment. Marra was a gunner's mate on the Resolution . He was an Irishman whom Cook had picked up in Batavia during the first voyage. Marra made an unsuccessful attempt to desert at Tahiti on May 14, 1774. Marra probably supplied material from his private journal which was put into shape by some literary person in the pay of the publisher Newbery” (Hill). The plates include the first views of the Antarctic. The maps are rare and include the untitled folding map facing the title-page that shows Resolution's track through the Southern Hemisphere; and the map, “Part of the tropical discoveries of the Resolution sloop, Captain J. Cook 1774,” facing the first page. The latter map was apparently inserted by the publisher in unsold copies of the book in 1776 and is today found in only a few copies. Hill 1087; Mitchell Library Cook 1270; Rosove 214.A1b ("very scarce"); Spence 758. Octavo (203 x 124mm). 5 engraved plates, 2 engraved folding maps (leaf D2 is a cancel as usual). Modern polished tree calf gilt. Provenance: David R. Parsons (book label).