[Cook, James]:

$2,000 · Offered by William Reese Company

CAPT. COOK'S THIRD AND LAST VOYAGE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN, IN THE YEARS 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, & 1780. "Faithfully abridged from the quarto edition." An abridged juvenile version of Captain James Cook's third and final, fatal voyage. This copy appears to have found its audience, as a contemporary young reader has made some scribbles in ink on the first and last leaves. Cook's third voyage was undertaken to continue the British survey of the Pacific, but most particularly to search for a northwest passage from the western side. Sailing in 1776, the expedition called at Kerguelen Island, Tasmania, New Zealand, and the Cook, Tonga, and Society islands, then sailed north and discovered Christmas Island and the Hawaiian Islands. They then thoroughly explored and charted the Northwest Coast from the Bering Straits along the coast of Alaska and Canada, as far south as present northern California. Returning to Hawaii in 1778, the expedition was at first received warmly; but after departing and being forced to return to repair a mast, trouble developed which led to a tragic series of events in which the great navigator was killed. A scarce and unusual edition of Cook.

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