Details
[BYRON, John (1723-1786)]. A Voyage Round the World, in His Majesty's Ship The Dolphin, Commanded by the Honourable Commodore Byron. London: J. Newbery and F. Newbery, 1767.
8o (209 x 125 mm). Engraved frontispiece and two plates. (Some spotting, title-page partly separated along gutter margin.) Contemporary speckled calf, red morocco lettering-piece, edges stained red (some rubbing, hinges cracked). Provenance: Richard Croftes, Esq. (bookplate).
FIRST EDITION of an account of the voyage of the Dolphin, which left Plymouth in July 1764 to travel and explore the South Seas. The voyage proved to be relatively uneventful, and the Dolphin, which was the first Royal Naval vessel to be sheathed in copper, returned to England in May 1766. This work is normally ascribed to midshipman Charles Clerke. Borba de Moraes I:138; Hill, p.310; Sabin 9732; Spence 237.
[With:] BYRON, John. The Narrative of the Honourable John Byron... Containing an Account of the Great Distress Suffered by Himself and his Companions on the Coast of Patagonia, from the Year 1740, till their Arrival in England, 1746... Written by Himself, and Now First Published. London: S.Baker & G.Leigh and T.Davies, 1768. 8o (200 x 122 mm). Engraved frontispiece. Later calf, top edge gilt (hinges worn). Second edition. "Byron was a midshipman aboard the Wager, which was wrecked on an island off the Chilean coast. This narrative supplied his grandson, Lord Byron, the poet, with many particulars for the shipwreck in Canto II of Don Juan" (Hill, p.42); Spence 238. (2)
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FIRST EDITION of an account of the voyage of the Dolphin, which left Plymouth in July 1764 to travel and explore the South Seas. The voyage proved to be relatively uneventful, and the Dolphin, which was the first Royal Naval vessel to be sheathed in copper, returned to England in May 1766. This work is normally ascribed to midshipman Charles Clerke. Borba de Moraes I:138; Hill, p.310; Sabin 9732; Spence 237.
[With:] BYRON, John. The Narrative of the Honourable John Byron... Containing an Account of the Great Distress Suffered by Himself and his Companions on the Coast of Patagonia, from the Year 1740, till their Arrival in England, 1746... Written by Himself, and Now First Published. London: S.Baker & G.Leigh and T.Davies, 1768. 8