Beschreibung:

A Voyage Round the World; but More Particularly to the North-West Coast of America: Performed in 1785, 1786, 1787, and 1788, in the King George and Queen Charlotte, Captains Portlock and Dixon. London: John Stockdale and George Goulding, 1789. 4to (293 x 229 mm). xii, 384, xl pp. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Portlock, 6 folding maps and plans, and 13 plates. Period tree calf, rebacked, spine gilt with old red leather spine label. Large folding maps and a few plates with expert repair, one plate remargined, another plate somewhat shorter, offset from some plates, a few instances of faint dampstain, covers with light rubbing around edges. FIRST EDITION of this principal account of the first commercial voyage to the Pacific Northwest American Coast. The King George's Sound Company was formed in 1785 to engage in fur trade between the Northwest Coast and China. The partnership purchased two ships, the King George, commanded by Nathaniel Portlock, and the Queen Charlotte, commanded by George Dixon Both captains had accompanied Cook on his third and final voyage and had visited the northwest with him. The two ships stopped at the Hawaiian Islands three times and their travels in the Pacific northwest included Cooks River past Kodiak Island (where they encountered a settlement of Russian hunters), Montague Island and Prince William Sound, Nootka, etc. Much is given on the local Indian tribes and on the changes in the Hawaiian Islands since their visit with Cook. Forbes 177; Hill p 239; Howes P-497; Lada-Mocarski 42; Sabin 64389.