Description
The first English edition of History Of The Voyages And Discoveries Made In The North by John Reinhold Forster, published in London in 1786.
Quarto, [6], xvi, 489pp, [14pp index], [errata]. Full brown calf, title stamped in gilt over red morocco label, five raised bands. Modern endpapers. Lacking half-title and publisher’s advertisements.
(Arctic Bibliography 5161) (Howes F269) (Sabin 25138)
Complete with three engraved foldout maps of The North Pole, Europe and Asia by T. Bowen, all in fine condition. Clean text throughout, an attractive work.
First appearing in German in 1784, Forester’s history of Arctic exploration details the voyages of Cabot, Frobisher, and Captain Cook. John Reinhold Forster (1729-1798) served as principal naturalist on Captain James Cook’s second voyage (1772-1775), where he conducted zoological, botanical, and ethnographic observations across the South Pacific. Upon his return to Europe, Forster was denied permission to publish the official account himself (a role given to Cook). He instead produced influential scientific papers and his “Observations Made During a Voyage Round the World” in 1778, a month-by-month account of Cook’s second voyage to the Pacific. (Sabin 25140)
