Cook (Capt. James) and Captain James King:

A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean...for making Discoveries in the North Hemisphere to determine the Position and Extent of the West Side of North America; its Distance from Asia; and the Practicability of a Northern Passage to Europe, 1776-80,

first edition, together 4 vols, 24 charts and engraved plates, 3 vol. and atlas containing 2 charts and 61 engraved plates, contemporary tree calf, rebacked, full gilt spines, red and green letter-pieces, atlas uniformly bound in half tree calf, red and green letter-pieces, 4to. & folio, [Beddie's Bibliography of Captain James Cook No.1543. Holmes Bibliography 47], London, 1784

*** Cook’s Third Pacific voyage was as important for the exploration of the North Pacific as the first two had been for the South Pacific. It was also the best equipped both navigationally and scientifically, and resulted in the discovery of Hawaii which Cook himself regarded as his greatest Pacific discovery, and in the disproval of the existence of a navigable northern passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Unfortunately, on February 14^th 1778 Cook was tragically killed in a shoreline skirmish with the native Hawaiians.

The long-delayed official account of the third voyage was so eagerly awaited by the public that it was sold out on the third day after publication, and though the published price was £4. 14s. 6d. as much as 10 guineas was offered by would-be purchasers.