Sparrman (Anders)

A voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, towards the Antarctic polar circle, and round the world: but chiefly into the country of the Hottentots and Caffres, from the year 1772, to 1776, FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, 2 vol., tear to A4, a4, B3-4, engraved frontispiece, 9 plates, large folding map, creased and torn, without loss, light age yellowing, light intermittent foxing throughout, ex libris of Bibliotheca Theologica Edimburgensis (manuscript note and label), contemporary calf, worn and rubbed, front joints cracked, [ESTC T150219; Rosove 316.A.1; Holmes 54; Hill (2004) 1615], 4to, Printed for G.G.J. & J. Robinson, 1785.

*** The first printing of the English translation of Anders Sparrman’s account of Captain Cook’s second voyage. Sparrman (1748-1820) was a physician as well as a naturalist and explorer. He travelled extensively, mainly to China (1765–1767) and to Africa on several expeditions in the 1770s and 1780s. His account, first published in Swedish in 1783, mentions numerous details not found in other published accounts.