Cook, Captain James. A VOYAGE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. Undertaken by the Command of His Majesty, for making Discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere. Performed under the Direction of Captains Cook, Clerke, and Gore, in His Majesty's Ships the Resolution and Discovery; in the Years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, and 1780. In three volumes. Vol. I. and II. written by Captain James Cook, F.R.S. Vol. III. by Captain James King, LL.D. and F.R.S. Published by Order of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. The Third Edition. London: Printed by H. Hughs, for G. Nicol, Bookseller to His Majesty, in the Strand; and T. Cadell, in the Strand. M.DCC.LXXXV. 3 vols., med. 4to, Third Edition; Vol. I, pp. [x](title, verso blank, & Contents), xcvi(Introduction & List of Plates), 422(last blank); 7 charts & views (5 folding); Vol. II, pp. [ii](title, verso blank), [xii](Contents), 548; 11 charts & plates (6 folding); Vol. III, pp. [ii](title, verso blank), [xii](Contents, last blank), 556, 557-564(A Defence of the Arguments advanced in the Introduction to Captain Cook's last Voyage, against the existence of Cape Circumcision); 6 charts & profiles (2 folding), full-page table of bank capital facing page 286, folding comparative table of languages, 7 appendices (Pp. 489-556); contemporary full tree calf; (Vol. I, expertly rebacked with original backstrip preserved & new endpapers, with title-page & following leaf in Volume I repaired at inner margin; following 5 or six leaves a little stained in inner margin; the sizing to first two and last leaves in Vol. I also restored; one chart in Vol. III repaired in inner margin; a couple of expert restorations to leather); notwithstanding these essentially minor defects, a very nice, clean set. London; Printed by H. Hughs; 1785.
***Without the folio Atlas, issued separately. See Holmes 47; Beddie 1553; Forbes 86. The "Defence of the Arguments ... " which is by William Wales, appears for the first time in this Third Edition which is in other respects closely similar to the second edition of the same year, reset from the first edition of the previous year, both sold out within days of publication. Forbes, whose collations are meticulous, makes no mention of the table of bank capital ("Corrected to the 5th of January, 1786") opposite page 286, and there seems no obvious reason for its inclusion, except for references to South Sea stock. The table is headed "(To face Page 286.)", but it seems likely that this is an accidental inclusion from another contemporary publication: it has clearly been present in this copy since its original collation. This edition, the last of the original quarto editions, is valuable for the addition of the "Defence ..." by William Wales. #64850
