95 BAUMAN RARE BOOKS Parkinson’s Journal Of Cook’s First Voyage To The South Seas— A Splendid Large First Edition Copy 105PARKINSON, Sydney. A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas, In his Majesty’s Ship the Endeavour. London, 1773. Large quarto (11-1/2 by 14 inches), period-style full tree calf gilt. $18,500 First edition, first issue, of Parkinson’s richly illustrated account of Cook’s first expedition, a substantial largepaper edition with a frontispiece portrait, map of New Zealand, and 26 copper engraved plates. “An account of the first expedition under the command of Captain Cook,” during which its young artist Sydney Parkinson became the first professional artist to set foot in Australia. “Parkinson made numerous drawings of botanical and other subjects, as well as landscape and portraits of native chiefs,” making this one of the most handsome of the unofficial accounts of Cook’s famous world voyage. The first work to identify the kangaroo by name, Parkinson’s Journal also contains extensive accounts of New Zealand and Australia. “After exploring Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, and the Great Barrier Reef… Parkinson succumbed to fever and dysentery and was buried at sea… Upon [the ship’s] return to England, Stanfield Parkinson, Sydney’s brother, claimed all the drawings made by his brother in his spare hours, as well as journals and collections, under a will made before Sydney Parkinson left England. Following the dispute, his writings were lent to Stanfield Parkinson, who transcribed them and prepared them for publication, but an injunction was obtained in chancery to restrain him from publishing until after the appearance of Dr. John Hawkesworth’s official account of the voyage. Hawkesworth also retaliated by excluding mention of Parkinson’s name from his compilation… and Parkinson’s name did not appear on any of the plates taken from his drawings” (Hill 1308). First issue, without Fothergill’s reply and extra preliminary halfsheet. Scattered faint foxing to plates, usual offsetting from plates to text; one leaf (K2) with small corner tear not affecting text. Beautifully bound.
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