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...

London: for George Nicol 1788. Second Edition. 4to (approx. 11.5" x 9.25"). xxvii, [1], 378 pp. With engraved frontis portrait after John Russell, large folding map, and 15 engraved plates. Bound in contemporary mottled calf over boards, gilt-rolled borders, re-backed and -cornered to style with green morocco title label and gilt-tooled spine, edges stained yellow, renewed endpapers. Boards show drying and wear, extremities rubbed, front hinge starting; some offsetting from plates and map, scattered foxing, text remains largely clean. A Very Good, suitably repaired copy of the Second edition (published in the same year as the first) of an important Pacific (truncated) voyage. Keate - a well-positioned man on letters rather than a seaman - derived his text from the accounts of Captain Wilson and other officers aboard the 'Antelope,' which wrecked near the Palau Islands in 1783. The popular account would be reprinted in numerous English and US editions throughout the late 18th century. Hill 907 (first edition); for Keate cf. ODNB . VeryGood. Hardcover . (Inventory #: 39787)