WILSON, James. A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean, Performed in the Years 1796, 1797, 1798, in the Ship Duff, Commanded by Captain James Wilson. London: Printed by S. Gosnell, for T. Chapman, 1799. 4to.
An important early account of the Pacific, recording the voyage of the Duff under Captain James Wilson and the London Missionary Society's establishment of missions in Tahiti, Tonga and the Marquesas.
Compiled from the journals of the officers and missionaries, the narrative combines a seafaring account with extensive observations on the island communities encountered. Descriptions of customs, religious practices, dwellings and political life give the work considerable interest beyond its missionary purpose. A preliminary discourse surveys the geography and history of the South Sea islands, while the appendix provides a fuller account of the natural and civil state of Tahiti.
The work also has a notable connection with the mutiny on the Bounty: the preliminary discourse and appendix on Tahiti draw on the then-unpublished narrative of James Morrison, one of the pardoned mutineers. The large Pacific chart is of additional interest for its early use of the geographical names “Greater Australia” and “Lesser Australia.”
First edition, preferred Gosnell printing. Complete with seven engraved maps and charts, five folding, and six engraved plates. Full tan calf, attractively rebacked, spine richly gilt in compartments with floral ornament, red morocco lettering-piece and gilt date at foot.
Provenance
Pictorial bookplate of Chaffee E. Hall to the front pastedown.
Condition
Attractively rebacked with the original, richly gilt spine laid down. Boards with surface scuffing, scratches and abrasions, and rubbing and wear to edges and corners. Text generally bright and clean, with generous margins. Foxing chiefly affects the plates and maps, particularly the large folding chart, with some offsetting onto facing leaves. Pictorial bookplate of Chaffee E. Hall and occasional pencil numerical notations to the endpapers. An attractive, complete copy.
Bibliographical note
Two distinct printings appeared in 1799, one by S. Gosnell and the other by T. Gillet, both for T. Chapman. The present Gosnell printing is generally preferred, the Gillet printing being produced with a different setting on smaller paper.
References
ESTC T87461; Ferguson 301; Hill p. 184.
