Lot Details
Lot 81
KEATE, GEORGE An Account of the Pelew Islands, Situated in the Western Part of the Pacific Ocean, Composed from the Journals and Communications of Captain Henry Wilson, and Some of His Officers, Who, in August 1783, Were There Shipwrecked, in the Antelope...
London: Printed for Captain Wilson; Sold by G. Nicol, 1788. Stated second edition. Modern red morocco backed marbled boards, the spine tooled in gilt and with raised bands and a black lettering label, an uncut copy with original deckle edge. 12 3/ x 9 1/2 inches (32.5 x 24 cm); xxviii pp., 378 pp., with portrait, folding map, and 13 (of 15) plates only. Stain and foxing to portrait, title toned, spotting, offsetting and other stains, label affixed to verso of title.
A classic account of shipwreck by the artist, natural historian and antiquarian Keate, a friend of Samuel Johnson and Angelica Kauffmann among others. Hill states of the voyage the author recounts here "In 1783, the Antelope, commanded by Captain Henry Wilson, ran onto a reef near one of the Palau Islands, a previously unexplored group, and was wrecked. The entire crew managed to get safely ashore, where they were well treated by the natives and eventually managed to build a small vessel from the wreck, in which they reached Macao. They took Prince Lee Boo, one of King Abba Thulle's sons, with them to England, where he made a good impression." We trace copies of the second edition also with variable plate counts and this copy is without the portraits of Abba Thulle, Ludee, and Prince Lee Boo. Cox II, 302; Hill 907.
C
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