Beschreibung:

HAWKINS, Sir Richard (ca 1562-1622). The Observations of Sir Richard Hawkins ... in his voiage into the South Sea. Anno Domini 1593. London: John Dawson for John Jaggard, 1622.
HAWKINS, Sir Richard (ca 1562-1622). The Observations of Sir Richard Hawkins ... in his voiage into the South Sea. Anno Domini 1593. London: John Dawson for John Jaggard, 1622. 2 o (269 x 182 mm). Woodcut printer's device on title (McKerrow 414), head-piece and initials. (H1 with repaired tear affecting a few letters, B4 with short marginal tears, lacks preliminary blank, some browning.) 20th-century calf gilt, edges gilt, by Riviere. Provenance : Boies Penrose (bookplate; his sale part I, Sotheby's London, 7 June 1971, lot 107). FIRST EDITION, "A VOLUME OF MUCH RARITY" (Sabin). "The original account of a famous English voyage. Hawkins set forth with the intention of circumnavigating the globe, trading with Japan, the Philippines, the Moluccas, China, and India. He did not complete his circumnavigation, however. After entering the Pacific in 1594, Hawkins and the men of the Dainty plundered the Spanish settlement at Valparaiso. Later in the year, he was trapped by two Spanish ships carrying a force outnumbering his own by ten to one in the Bay of San Mateo in Peru. A three-day fight ensued, but defeat was inevitable. Hawkins was released by the Spanish in 1602. Shortly before this volume was published, he died suddenly in the Council Chamber in London. This work gives an excellent account of life at sea in the Elizabethan age" (Hill). Borba de Moraes I:395; Brunet III:63; Hill 784; JCB (3) II:165; NMM I, 284; Sabin 30957; STC 12962.