KIPPIS Andrew The Life of Captain James Cook.

Hill (2), 935 ; Holmes, 69 ; Lada-Mocarski, 40 ; O’Reilly-Reitman, 455.

First edition of the first biography of Captain Cook, based in part on documents supplied by directly by the fellow explorer Joseph Banks.

“Kippis’s book, the first English biography of Cook, was intended to give a well-balanced account of his life from birth to death, including his family and early years, and the capacities in which he was engaged prior to the famous voyages. Cook discharged several important duties while aboard the Mercury, on the St. Lawrence river, during the siege of Quebec. The Newfoundland and Labrador surveys are discussed, and the three voyages are dealt with in great narrative depth. Kippis includes most of Samwell’s narrative of Cook’s death, and gives accounts of various tributes to Cook” (Hill).

Some occasional foxing.