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Author: Burney, James
Title: A Chronological History of the Discoveries in the South Sea or Pacific Ocean
Place Published: London
Publisher: Printed by Luke Hansard ... and sold by G. and W. Nicol, et al.
Date Published: 1803-1817
Description:

5 volumes. [2], xii, [8], 391; v, [11], 482; [10], 437, [1]; xviii, 580; vii, [1], 237 pp. With 41 engraved maps, charts & plates, 17 of them folding (including 5 frontispiece charts); 6 charts & illustrations in the text. (4to) 30.5x23.5 cm (12x9¼"), rebound in library cloth. First Edition.

First edition of the cornerstone of the study of the discovery of the Pacific. Burney sailed with Cook as lieutenant on his second and third voyages. He undertook this seminal study to present a continuous history of Pacific discovery over the 250 years prior to Cook,designed as a 'prequel' to Hawkesworth's collection of the voyages of Byron, Wallis, Carteret, and Cook. In this "most important general history of early South Sea discoveries containing practically everything of importance on the subject" (Hill), Burney collected Spanish, Dutch, French and English voyages. Many of the voyage accounts published here are otherwise inaccessible and so the History "must always form the basis of historical research for early voyages and discoveries throughout the Pacific" (Hocken). Ferguson, 372; Hill 221; Hocken, pp. 30-34 (with detailed list of contents); Sabin, 9387. Formerly in the Chicago Public Library with light rubberstamps to title-pages and a few places within (but not to plates or charts), bookplates.

Some soiling to and extremitie wear to covers; minor offset from the plates, including internal offset to folding plates; frontispiece of Vol. I neatly split in two, California chart in Vo. II with 2 split, some plates in Vol. III with light marginal foxing, a few plates with edge wear; verso of the final printed page of Vol. V glued to the following leaf, not affecting any text; bound without half-titles if so issued; internally in very nice condition, a clean, wide-margined copy.