Troisième voyage de Cook, ou Journal d'une expédition faite dans la Mer Pacifique du Sud & du Nord, en 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779 & 1780.

8vo: x-508 pp. (minor spotting; sm. tear in blank margin of p. 465, tiny hole in p. 501).

Contemp. marbled calf (corners bumped), gilt spine with 5 raised bands (sm. def. at head & tail).

Rare first French edition, second issue, of Rickman's surreptitious account of Cook's third and final voyage, published the year after the English original, and translated by Jean-Nicolas Demeunier. Engr. ill.: folding frontispiece showing the death of Captain Cook on Hawaii, "Mort du Capitaine Cook à Owhy-hée, Fevrier 1779" and a large folding map showing the route of Cook's ships Resolution and Discovery in the Pacific Ocean. At verso of half title the statement "Cet ouvrage s'est imprimé avec tant de rapidité, qu'il s'y est glissé plusieurs fautes". This 1st French ed. has two states: the 1st is uncorrected and doesn't bear the printer's name on the last f., the 2nd is corrected and ends with "de l'Imprimerie de Valade", as in our copy.
Ref. Chadenat 551. - BnF. - Cp. Cox I:63.
Prov. Ms. entry on title.