A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas, in his Ma…

First edition of this rare and important c.18th unofficial account of Cook’s first voyage.

A tall copy (342mm high) with wide margins, in a magnificent binding by Aquarius of half calf over marbled papered boards, ruled in gilt; spine in compartments with raised bands, elaborately tooled in gilt, with images of a three masted sailing ship in each compartment, and contrasting red morocco title label lettered in gilt.

London : printed for Stanfield Parkinson, the editor, 1773. Quarto; engraved frontispiece, title with the ownership signature of ‘Robert Harland‘ (believed to be that of Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Harland, 1715-1784), pp. xxiii, 212, [2, errata], 27 copper engraved plates (offsetting as usual), and an engraved map of New Zealand; a fine copy with a significant naval association.

The gifted natural history artist Sydney Parkinson was invited by Sir Joseph Banks to serve as botanical draughtsman on Cook’s voyage to the South Seas in the Endeavour, 1768-1771. The main objectives of the expedition were to observe the Transit of Venus (successfully accomplished in Tahiti in June, 1769) and to confirm the existence of Terra Australis Incognita. Following the death of the topographical draughtsman, Alexander Buchan, in Tahiti, Parkinson assumed the role of the expedition’s principal artist. Parkinson produced over 1300 drawings and sketches on the voyage, before succumbing to dysentery at Batavia. He died at sea in late January, 1771.

On returning to England, Parkinson’s drawings and papers were acquired by Banks from Parkinson’s brother, Stanfield, for a sum of £500. Banks was generous enough to lend the papers and a number of drawings to Stanfield Parkinson, who secretly prepared them for his unauthorised publication, A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas, without the consent of Banks. The book became the subject of a legal injunction, and Parkinson was prevented from publishing it until after Hawkesworth’s official account of Cook’s Voyage had appeared in print, in 1773. A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas was finally published later in the same year. Although Parkinson’s notes and a selection of his drawings were used by Hawkesworth in compiling the official account, Hawkesworth purposely failed to acknowledge any of Parkinson’s work. Parkinson was the first European artist to make drawings of the indigenous peoples of New Zealand and Australia from direct observation. A journal of a voyage to the South Seas contains his depictions of Maori and of Aborigines opposing Cook’s landing at Botany Bay, and the book made these important images available to a European audience for the first time. In a very real sense it is a foundation work in Polynesian and Australian ethnography.

Provenance:
We believe the ownership signature on the title page to be that of Vice-Admiral (later Admiral) Sir Robert Harland, 1st Baronet (1715-1784). Harland was promoted to rear-admiral on 18 October 1770 and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies Station in 1771, remaining there until 1775. He was appointed a baronet on 19 March 1771. He was further promoted to vice-admiral on 5 February 1776, before becoming second in command of the Channel Fleet and fighting at the Battle of Ushant on 27 July 1778. Harland was appointed to the Board of Admiralty in April 1782, and served as First Naval Lord from 1 April 1782, with the rank of full admiral from 8 April 1782, until he left on 30 January 1783. He died on 21 February 1784.