PARKINSON, Sydney (1745?-1771). A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas. London, 1773. FIRST EDITION, LARGE-PAPER ISSUE.
4to (330 x 250 mm). Engraved frontispiece portrait, double-page chart, 27 engraved plates. Contemporary marbled boards (modern rebacking to style preserving original labels, boards rubbed, corners worn). FIRST EDITION, LARGE-PAPER ISSUE, printed on thick paper, by the young naturalist artist recommended to James Cook by Joseph Banks. He died of fever before reaching the Cape of Good Hope on the homeward voyage, and was buried at sea. His brother, Stanfield, battled against Banks, the Admiralty and Sir John Hawkesworth to gain possession of the journals after the voyage so he could publish them; he recounts the entire affair in the Preface to this work. Hawkesworth was so incensed by the publication of Parkinson's work that he excluded Sydney Parkinson's name from his edition of Cook's voyages, despite making use of some of his writings and drawings. Parkinson's journal remains the finest personal account of Cook's first voyage, providing a more intimate portrait of the newly discovered islands, people, and languages than Hawkesworth's account or Banks's journal. Hill 1308; Holmes 7; Sabin 58787.
