Voyage autour du monde, fait dans les anne’es MDCCXL,I,II,III,IV. Par George Anson, presentement Lord Anson, commandant en chef d’une escadre envoye’e par sa majeste’ Britannique dans la Mer du Sud. Tiré des Journaux & autres Papiers de ce Seigneur, & publié par Richard Walter, Maître ès arts & Chapelain du Centurion dans cette Expédition. Orné de Cartes & de Figures en Taille douce. Traduit de Anglois.
Amsterdam and Leipzig: Arkstee & Merkus, 1749. First edition in French.
Quarto (9 13/16” x 7 7/8”, 248mm x 201mm): π2 *2 **–***4 A–Ss4 Tt4 (–Tt4) [$3 signed; –Bb3]. 179 leaves, pp. [8] (half-title, blank, title, blank, 4pp. dedication to Heinrich XI, Prince Reuss of Griez) i ii–xv (table of contents) v vi–xvi (preface) 1 2–333 [1] (instructions for the binder). With 33 engraved plates, of which 12 are maps. Of the maps, 10 are folding.
Bound in mottled calf. On the spine, six raised bands. “VOYAGE / DE / ANSON” gilt to citron morocco in the second panel. With red and blue marbled endpapers. All edges of the text-block speckled red.
Rebacked with the original backstrip laid down. Boards scuffed and corners bumped. Even tanning throughout and dampstaining to the top edge from Nn4–Tt3 (24 leaves). Vertical tear to the lower edge of “Une Lionne Marine,” loss to the fore-edge of “Plan de van Haven,” and stub tears to the folding maps. “Carte de la Mer du Sud” with splits along the fold, two vertical tears, and one repaired tear. Rear endpaper excised. Armorial bookplate of John Lathrop Motley to the front pastedown.
Born at Shugborough manor in 1697, George Anson (1697–1762) was destined to be a scion of the already prominent Anson family. At 15, he joined the Royal Navy amid the War of the Spanish Succession and served aboard HMS Ruby. In 1740, Britain was amid the War of Jenkin’s Ear, a conflict with Spain stemming from trade disputes and Spanish anxieties over Britain’s colonial expansion. Riding the high of the British Army’s capture of Portobelo, naval authorities sent the then Commander Anson with a squadron of eight ships to seize control of Spanish colonies in the South Pacific. After a disastrous first few months of disease, failed combat, storms, and a bout of mutiny, Anson regrouped on the Juan Fernández Islands. The fleet moved up the Chilean coast but failed to intercept the Manila galleon in Acapulco — a chief objective in their mission. After a year in the Pacific, Anson returned for a second attempt at raiding the galleon. Their ship, the Centurion, cut off the Spaniards’ Covadonga and fired powderguns from the deck and cannonballs into her hull. After ninety minutes, the Spanish surrendered and Anson’s men seized over 1.3 million Spanish dollars (also known as pieces of eight).
The squadron rushed home for fear of interception if news traveled faster than the fleet. When safely back in England, Anson reached celebrity status but disputes over the bounty became so fraught that the naval officers landed in court. Along with a decided 3/8 share, Anson additionally enjoyed the success of the published account, which was initially released in 1748. The identity of the journal’s author is contested, with some believing that the mathematician Benjamin Roberts penned the entries despite Lord Anson’s chaplain, Richard Walter, being credited in the title and dedication. The book was wildly popular, with five editions released by 1749.
Anson was elected Member of Parliament for Hedon in 1744, elevated to Baron in 1747, and became First Lord of the Admiralty in the Broad Bottom Ministry in 1751. Among his reforms was the removal of corrupt defense contractors, improved medical care — likely spurred by the immense loss of his crew during his voyage, with only 188 of 1,854 men surviving — and a revision to the Articles of War. Remembered in England as “Father of the British Navy” but leaving no heirs, Anson died in Hertfordshire in April of 1762.
John Lathrop Motley (1814–1877) was an esteemed American author and diplomat. In 1856, Motley published an extensive history of the Dutch republic, which was well received and in 1860, he released the first two volumes of its continuation, The United Netherlands. Despite minor criticism from the Dutch — who dubbed Motley’s didacticism as overdramatic and biased, even in its favorable light —his writing was noticed by politicians back home in the Northeast and he was appointed United States Minister to the United Kingdom by Ulysses S. Grant in June of 1869.
The present example was lot 7 at Doyle’s September 15th, 2022 sale of Jay I. Kislak’s collection. Mr. Kislak (1922–2018) was an American businessman and dedicated philanthropist whose generous donations have funded collections at the National Air and Space Museum, the Library of Congress, and University of Pennsylvania’s Libraries. He is the namesake of Penn Libraries’ esteemed Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts.
Alden / Landis 749/284; Sabin 1637. Not in Hill. Not in Church.
Cataloged by G.R. Murdock
Item #GRM0028
Price: $1,800