George Anson - Voyage autour du monde - 1749

First Book

Original French edition of the celebrated voyage around the world by Anson

ANSON, Lord George

A Voyage Round the World made in the years 1740–1744, by G. Anson, Commander-in-Chief of a squadron sent by His Majesty the British in the South Seas; drawn from the journals and other papers of this lord, and published by Richard Walter…

Amsterdam and Leipzig, Arkstee and Merkus, 1749, 333 pp.... complete with 34 plates, almost all folding plates of figures and maps, full period calfskin, spine with raised bands ornamented with a title piece, red edges, corner worn, scuffs, head of the spine missing, text slightly browned and some scattered foxing.

Account of the expedition of George Anson sent to attack the Spanish possessions during the War of Jenkins' Ear, which pitted Great Britain and Spain from 1739 to 1748. His voyage lasted more than 3 years and was a human catastrophe; nevertheless, he was welcomed as a hero following the capture of the galleon Nuestra Señora de Cabadonga near the Philippines and its 400,000 pounds.

Since its first publication in English in 1748, this famous voyage, half military, half commercial, was continually reissued. Its text, prepared by Walter, was judged of such poor quality before printing that Benjamin Robins, the expedition’s mathematician, was asked to rewrite it entirely; the name of the chaplain (Walter) still remained on the title page... As for the maps and plates, they surpassed, by far, anything previously produced in this genre for travel books in terms of quality and accuracy; it consists of a large map, 13 fine engraved maps, and 21 large folding engravings illustrating the major episodes and discoveries of the expedition.