ROGERS, Woodes, Captain (d.1732). A Cruising Voyage round the World: First to the South-Seas. London, 1712. FIRST EDITION.
8vo (194 x 115 mm). Engraved folding route map (mounted on linen), 4 engraved folding maps. (Minor browning, title-page a little soiled.) Contemporary calf (rebacked to match).FIRST EDITION OF ROGERS' CLASSIC PRIVATEERING ACCOUNT, A SOURCE FOR ROBINSON CRUSOE. Rogers' privately funded voyage was more financially successful than any since Drake and Cavendish; Rogers maintained good order despite a "mongrel crew and with officers often mutinous." Privateer William Dampier was pilot and navigator (see lot 53). After they rounded Cape Horn, they sheltered at Juan Fernandez; there, they rescued Alexander Selkirk, whose story (as told by Rogers) was an inspiration for Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Their attack on Spanish ships on the west coast of Mexico and South America resulted in the taking of an Acapulco galleon (among others), whose bounty included important information in the form of maps. Included here are 5, taken by Rogers from "The best Spanish manuscript draughts." Alden & Landis 712/194; Borba de Moraes II:213-14; Cowan I p.194; Hill 1479; Sabin 72753; Streeter IV:2429.
