PARKINSON, Sydney - Lot 125

PARKINSON, Sydney A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas, in his Majesty's Ship, The Endeavour. London, printed for Stanfield Parkinson, 1773. Very large in-4 (337 x 265 mm) with a frontispiece portrait engraved by James Newton, XXIII, 211 pp, 1 f.n.ch. of errata, 27 numbered engraved plates. Porphyry calf, triple gilt fillet, smooth spine, caissons decorated with a special iron (globe), spotted edges (contemporary binding). Hill, 1308; Howgego, C-173; Sabin, 58787; First edition, large paper copy, of this important account of Cook's first voyage, based on the diary of Parkinson, who had been hired by Sir Joseph Banks to serve as natural history draftsman aboard the Endeavour. Parkinson died of dysentery on the return voyage, and his account was transcribed and published by his brother Stanfield Parkinson, who was forced by injunction to delay publication until Hawkesworth's official account appeared. Of great ethnographic and linguistic importance, Parkinson's Voyage contains vocabularies of the Otaheite, New Zealand, New Holland (including the name of the Kangaroo for the first time, p. 149), Savoo and Sumatra as well as the Malayan language spoken in Batavia. The very beautiful plates show members of the encountered peoples, their dwellings and some objects. The iconography also includes a map of New Zealand (pl. 26). A copy discreetly washed when the binding was restored. Extremely rare copy on large paper in-4