[TRAVEL & EXPLORATION]. COOK, James, Capt. (1728-1779). A voyage to the Pacific Ocean. Undertaken by the command of His Majesty for making Discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere... in His Majesty’s Ships the Resolution and Discovery, in the Years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779 and 1780. London H. Hughs; G. Nicol; T. Cadell 1785.

3 volumes, 4to (305 x 232 mm). Engraved medallion vignettes on title-pages, 23 (of 24) engraved maps and charts (mostly folding), folding letterpress table, without 63 of the plates that were “cautioned” by the publisher to booksellers not to have them bound up but instead issued in a separate volume in folio (not present); also without the “Death of Cook” plate that was later issued but is sometimes seen bound in into the Third Voyage. (Light spotting, offsetting to text from plates.) Contemporary calf (rebacked to style, fore-corners repaired, endpapers renewed). Provenance: armorial bookplate on pastedowns).

Second edition of Cook's Third Voyage, "considered typographically superior to the first edition which was a contemporary opinion borne out from a presentation inscription in a set from Isaac Smith (Mrs. Cook’s relative) addressed to Mrs. Cook’s physician, Doctor Elliotson (now at the Dixson Library, State Library of New South Wales) calling it 'much superior to the first both in paper & letter press'” (Forbes). For his last Voyage, Cook was ordered to seek a North-West Passage and to return Omai to Tahiti. From Cape Horn they sailed to the Kerguelens (named Desolation Island by Cook), Tasmania, and New Zealand, charting and mapping all the way, then north, discovering the Hawaiian Islands (which Cook considered his most valuable discovery) and Christmas Island. Cook charted the American West Coast from Northern California through the Bering Strait to 70 deg. 44’ N. He returned to Hawaii for the winter and was killed in an "unhappy skirmish" with the natives over a boat. Also on board were James Burney, William Bligh, James Colnett, and George Vancouver, who all made their own great contributions to navigation and discovery. The present work resulting from their voyage is “ARGUABLY THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK ON THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, that documents all aspects of Hawaiian culture at the point of discovery by Europeans…and is in fact one of the most important English books published in the last quarter of the eighteenth century” (ibid). “Cook earned his place in history by opening up the Pacific to Western civilization and by the foundation of British Australia. The world was given for the first time an essentially complete knowledge of the Pacific Ocean and Australia, and Cook proved once and for all that there was no great southern continent, as had always been believed. He also suggested the existence of Antarctic land in the southern ice ring, a fact which was not proved until the explorations of the nineteenth century” (PMM).

Beddie, Mitchell Library 650, 1216, 1543; Forbes 62; Hill 782, 358, 361; Holmes 5, 24, 47; PMM 223; Rosove 77.A2; Sabin 30934, 16245, 16250. A TALL COPY AND NEARLY AS LARGE AS COPIES SEEN UNCUT IN ORIGINAL BOARDS.

Gretchen Hause

SVP, Head of Department, Books and Manuscripts, Chicago

[email protected]312.334.4229

Gretchen Hause joined the Books and Manuscripts Department at Hindman Auctions in 2017, after working for nearly 8 years as a specialist in the Books and Manuscripts Department at Christie’s in New York. During her tenure at Hindman, Gretchen has handled numerous books and maps for record prices, including the superb Mellon-Garden copy of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, sold in 2019 for the world auction record price of $564,500. She also secured and sold a rare copy of Palmatary’s 1857 pre-fire view of Chicago (the only copy in private hands) for nearly $200,000, and secured and auctioned a copy of Ratzer’s fine Plan of the City of New York for a world auction record $162,500.

In 2023, Gretchen secured the Fine Literature from the Collection of Richard C. McKenzie. The white-glove sale was 100% sold by lot, realizing nearly double the high estimate. In that same year, she served as head of sale for the Private Collection of Secretary Madeleine K. Albright, another white-glove sale which realized more than three times the low estimate. In 2019, Gretchen was responsible for the sale of the Library of a Midwestern Collector. The 86-lot sale achieved a record total for any sale for the department, setting the world auction record for Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, and bringing strong prices for several scientific works, works on computing, and other notable high spots. In 2018, she secured and handled the Fine Cartographic and Printed Americana Collection of Eric and Evelyn Newman, which was 97% sold by lot, achieving the highest sale total at the time for a single-session auction in department history, and bringing several record prices. She also organized the successful sale of The Adventure & Exploration Library of Steve Fossett. The two-session sale realized a department record sold total at the time, and achieved a 100% sell through rate.

Prior to joining Hindman Auctions, Gretchen spent nearly 8 years in the Books and Manuscripts department at Christie’s in New York. While at Christie’s, she contributed to the successful sales of several collections, including the Dorothy Shea collection of fore-edge paintings (96% sold by lot) and duplicates from the Warren H. Corning Library of the Holden Arboretum, which were 95% sold by lot in 2013 to benefit the acquisitions fund. She also helped catalogue the Cornelius J. Hauck Private Botanical Library (92% sold by lot in 2016), and the American Literature collection of Mrs. J. Insley Blair, which was 95% sold by lot. She had the opportunity to work on a number of landmark single-owner sales, including those of the collections of President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan and Huguette Clark, and the libraries of Kenneth Nebenzahl (exploration and maps), Arthur and Charlotte Vershbow (the art of book illustration), and Jean Perrette (travel and exploration), as well as the sale of the iconic Kelmscott printing press.

Gretchen has attended introductory and advanced bibliography and history of bookbinding courses at Rare Book School at the University of Virginia, and holds a B.A. and M.A. in English Literature. She studied primarily British literature, with emphases in medieval and modern literature. Gretchen is a member of the Grolier Club, the Caxton Club, the Washington Map Society, and the Chicago Map Society. She currently serves on the board as Treasurer for the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies. She is an auctioneer, and has nearly 15 years of experience working with rare books and manuscripts. In addition to her commitment to the bibliophilic community, Gretchen is committed to public service as well, and is currently serving a 6-year term as a publicly-elected Commissioner for the Berwyn Park District in her hometown.

Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana

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