![COOK, Captain James - MAGRA, John. A Journal of a Voyage round the World in his Majesty's ship Endeavour [First Voyage]. London: T. Beckett and P.A. de Hondt, 1771.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2000/CKS/2000_CKS_06417_0153_000(020731).jpg?w=1)
Details
COOK, Captain James - MAGRA, John. A Journal of a Voyage round the World in his Majesty's ship Endeavour [First Voyage]. London: T. Beckett and P.A. de Hondt, 1771.
4° (275 x 110mm). 2pp. dedication to the Lords of the Admiralty and Banks and Solander, 3pp. dictionary 'a concise vocabulary of the language of Otahitee', bound in at the end. (Some light occasional spotting and browning.) Contemporary calf, covers with triple gilt filet borders with central arms of the 3rd Earl of Bute, (rebacked and cornered, spine laid down). Provenance: John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (armorial binding).
THE BUTE COPY OF THE FIRST ISSUE OF THE BECKET EDITION, the first published (but unofficial) account of Cook's First Voyage around the world. The work was published anonymously, two years before Hawksworth's official account, and is usually attributed to John Matra (or Magra), a midshipman on the Endeavour. As the dedication by Becket discusses, he acquired the "anonymous manuscript text" of the Journal and published it to be "an acquisition to the public". Following complaints from Banks and Solander this dedication was withdrawn. Its circulation was undoubtedly restricted, perhaps by pressure from the Admiralty who put advertisements in the papers cautioning the public against spurious accounts, and it is now a rare work. Since 1985 only four copies have appeared at auction, the last, the Dupont copy, in 1991. Whilst somewhat short on detail, this account is a reaction to the enormous public interest in Cook's discoveries in the Pacific. The Endeavour returned to Dover on 12th July 1771, Becket's dedication is dated September 28th, 1771. This, the Bute copy, was probably acquired for his Luton House library, which was disposed at auction in 1811. BCJC 693.
4° (275 x 110mm). 2pp. dedication to the Lords of the Admiralty and Banks and Solander, 3pp. dictionary 'a concise vocabulary of the language of Otahitee', bound in at the end. (Some light occasional spotting and browning.) Contemporary calf, covers with triple gilt filet borders with central arms of the 3rd Earl of Bute, (rebacked and cornered, spine laid down). Provenance: John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (armorial binding).
THE BUTE COPY OF THE FIRST ISSUE OF THE BECKET EDITION, the first published (but unofficial) account of Cook's First Voyage around the world. The work was published anonymously, two years before Hawksworth's official account, and is usually attributed to John Matra (or Magra), a midshipman on the Endeavour. As the dedication by Becket discusses, he acquired the "anonymous manuscript text" of the Journal and published it to be "an acquisition to the public". Following complaints from Banks and Solander this dedication was withdrawn. Its circulation was undoubtedly restricted, perhaps by pressure from the Admiralty who put advertisements in the papers cautioning the public against spurious accounts, and it is now a rare work. Since 1985 only four copies have appeared at auction, the last, the Dupont copy, in 1991. Whilst somewhat short on detail, this account is a reaction to the enormous public interest in Cook's discoveries in the Pacific. The Endeavour returned to Dover on 12th July 1771, Becket's dedication is dated September 28th, 1771. This, the Bute copy, was probably acquired for his Luton House library, which was disposed at auction in 1811. BCJC 693.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.