Description
First edition of Voyages Round The World by Edmund Fanning, published in New York in 1833.
Octavo, xii, [13] 499pp. Publisher’s original quarter green cloth, paper boards. Title on paper label affixed to spine. Complete with five engraved plates, two folding, all with light foxing and wear at hinges. Solid text block. Label affixed to verso of title page, with notable transference to title page. Period ownership notation, dated 1839, on front free endpaper. Housed in custom quarter blue morocco clamshell from W. Root & Son of London, with decorative raised bands, title in gilt on spine, cloth boards.
(Hill 581) (Howes F-27) (Rosove, 119) (Sabin 23780)
A scarce work in the original boards.
Edmund Fanning (1769-1841), the “Pathfinder of the Pacific,” was an American explorer who led expeditions to the South Seas aboard an American ship “Betsey” and later the “Tonquin.” His primary goal was to engage in maritime trade and find new sources of sealskins in the Pacific Ocean for his investors in New York. Fanning’s voyages took him to various destinations in the South Pacific, including the South Pacific islands of Tahiti and Tonga, and the Marquesas. In 1829, he was instrumental in achieving congressional approval for the Wilkes Expedition.
