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RELATION DES VOYAGES ENTREPRIS PAR ORDRE DE SA MAJESTE’ BRITANNIQUE, ACTUELLEMENT REGNANTE, POUR FAIRE DES DECOUVERTES DANS L’HEMISPHERE MERIDIONAL.

In-8 gr. (mm. 248x188), 4 volumi, elegante legatura in p. pelle bazana coeva (picc. spacchi alle cerniere), dorso a cordoni con ricche decorazioni e tit. oro su due tasselli, sottili cornici dorate ai piatti, tagli marmorizzati, pp. (4),IV,XVI,(2),XXXII,388; (8),536; (8),394,(2); (4),VIII,367; illustrati f.t., come da Indice, da 52 tavole inc. in rame di cui 30 carte geografiche, più volte ripieg., e 22 magnifiche tavole (anche a doppia pag.) che raffigurano usi e costumi degli indigeni, paesaggi, flora e fauna, scene storiche, tutte molto ben conservate. L’opera, tradotta dall’inglese, è così suddivisa: 1° vol. “Relation d’un voyage fait autour du monde, dans les années 1764, 1765 et 1766, par le Commodore Byron, Commandant le vaisseau du Roi le ‘Dauphin’ (segue) Voyage.. dans les années 1766, 1767, 1768 et 1769, par Philippe Carteret, Ecuyer, Commandant du ‘Swallow Sloup’ de Sa Majesté Britannique” - 2° vol. “Voyage.. dans les années 1766, 1767 et 1768, par Samuel Wallis, Commandant le vaisseau du Roi ‘le Dauphin’ (segue) Voyage.. dans les années 1769, 1770 et 1771, par le Lieutenant Jacques Cook, Commandant le vaisseau du Roi ‘l’Endeavour’” - 3° et 4° volumi “continuation et fin du ‘Voyage du Capitaine Cook”. "Prima edizione della versione francese". Cfr. The Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages (2004),782, per la prima ediz. inglese del 1773: “Important collection chronicling English maritime expeditions. John Byron visited the Tuamoto Islands and Nikunau in what would later be called the Gilbert Islands. Captain Wallis discovered the volcanic island of Tahiti and Morea.. Captain Carteret discovered Pitcairn Island and some remote atolls in the South Seas. The first voyage under the not-yet-famous Captain Cook’s command was primarly of a scientific nature. The expedition was to sail to Tahiti in order to observe the transit of Venus across the disk of the sun, to determine the earth’s distance from the sun, and also to carry on the geographical discovery that John Byron had started. Entering the Pacific around Cape Horn, Cook reached Tahiti in 1769 and carried out the necessary astronomical observations.. Leaving Tahiti in July, Cook discovered, named and charted the Society Islands, and then, heading southwest, explored New Zealand. Cook then headed towards Australia and discovered and charted the eastern coast for 2.000 miles, naming the area New South Wales. He nearly lost his ship on the Great Barrier Reef. Both Australia and New Zealand were annexed by Britain as a result of this voyage, which began in 1768 and ended in 1771. Cook’s discoveries won him prominence, promotion, and the opportunity to sail again. They also ensured J. Hawkesworth’s position in maritime literary history, as the official chronicler of Cook’s first voyage”. Pagine ingiallite per la qualità della carta, altrimenti esemplare ben conservato.