About this Item
8 vols., mixed edition - the first volume volume corresponds to the third edition (published between 1744 and 1747), whereas volumes 2-8, all dated 1752, are part of a later edition, title to vol. 1 printed in red and black, 281 engraved plates, maps and plans (several folding), numerous woodcut and engraved text illustrations, occasional spotting, contemporary polished calf, boards border rolled in gilt, spines gilt with floriated designs, contemporary calf and green morocco labels, neatly rebacked with original spine laid on, folio (359 x223mm),, London, for Henry Lintot and John Osborn, 1744 (first vol.)-1752 (vols. 2-8)
An extensive collection of voyages to America, China, Turkey, Ceylon, Africa, India, Persia, and elsewhere.
First published in four volumes in 1704, A Collection of Voyages and Travels, was one of the most successful publications to be produced by Awnsham and John Churchill, influential and innovative early booksellers in England. For the first time, this exhaustive compilation offered a single definitive publication of the most celebrated and recognised travel accounts documented over the past century. The Churchill?s commitment to working from original manuscripts was unusual and deviated from common practice of copping from assorted published translations and editions already in circulation.
The narratives are comprised of personal accounts translated from Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish, and German, covering voyages to the New World, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Amongst the dozens of accounts in the collection are Domingo Fernandez Navarrete?s account of the Empire of China during his work as a missionary from 1657-1673; Brawern and Herckemann?s voyage to Chile in 1642 and 1643; Captain John Monck?s voyage in 1619 and 1620 to Hudson Bay, to discover a passage between Greenland and America; and Michele Angelo Guattini?s ?curious and exact?account of his travels to the Congo.Volume II contains an account by the Dutch adventurer Johan Nieuhof (1618-1672), who served as an official of the Dutch West India Company in Brazil and East India Company (VOC) in China and India. His narrative of the East Indies encompasses the Arabian Gulf, including such principal locations as Bahrain (Baharen), Sharjah (Sarba), Dubai (Dibei), Ras Al-Khaimah (Rasaelchimes), and Muscat (Muskate), and describes the pearling industry. Another important Middle Eastern narrative is that of Martin von Baumgarten on Egypt, Arabia, Palestine, and Syria, which includes a description of the ruins at Baalbek.
Though this publication became notable and successful, the Churchills were most distinguished in history as the personal publisher for the Enlightenment heavyweight, John Locke. In fact, the introductory discourse to this collection has been attributed to Locke, just prior to his death in 1704.
PROVENANCE:
Jolliffe, eighteenth-century armorial bookplate
[Borba de Moraes pp.181-183; Hill p.52; Sabin 13017].
Seller Inventory # 6792
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