Beschreibung:

COOK, James, Capt. (1728-1779) -- First Voyage]. Journal d'un Voyage autour du monde, en 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771... Traduit de l'Anglois par M. de Frèville . Paris: Saillant & Nyon, 1772. 8 o (194 x 119 mm). Contemporary mottled calf, smooth spine gilt (rubbed, joints weak, bookplate removed from pastedown). FIRST EDITION IN FRENCH: THE FIRST NOTICE OF COOK'S VOYAGE IN THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. This supplement to the second edition of Bougainville's Voyage autour du Monde (Paris, 1772) was the first appearance in French of the anonymous account of Cook's first voyage and includes two letters that did not appear in the original English edition (London, 1771). This French translation was also issued the same year as a separate publication with a different title-page. This anonymous work was published just two months after the expedition's return to England and almost two years prior to Hawkesworth's account of the first voyage. The authorship of the work remains undiscovered, but it is most often attributed to James Magra or Matra, an American midshipman. Mitchell Library Cook 696. See also Sabin 16242; Hill, pp.157-8.