Forrest, Captain Thomas (3 results)

4to [29 x 24.5 cm]; [ii], xxiii, [i, errata], 388, 13, [i, directions] pp, engraved frontis portrait, plus 32 engraved plates, maps and charts including 20 folding. orig full tree calf, rebacked with orig gilt decorated spine, gilt title lettering on orig red spine leather label, wear at corners & spine ends, armorial bookplate of Robert Austen, marbled endpapers, interior clean, crisp & fine with only slight foxing. Taylor 401. Cox i, 301. Hill p. 108: 'Forrest sailed from Balembangan, in the 'Tartar', a native prahu of about ten tons burden, with two English officers and eighteen Malays, towards the Moluccas. He pushed further east than any of his company predecessors, eventually reaching Geelvink Bay in New Guinea. The voyage was one of examination and enquiry . . . the tact with which he conducted his intercourse with the natives, and the amount of work done in a small boat, deservedly won him credit as a navigator'. They explored the Gilolo Passage between New Guinea and the Moluccas, then sailed to Mindanao, examining the Sulu Archipelago, Mandiolo, Batchian and Waygiou, and reaching the Malay peninsula A vocabulary of the Magindano tongue is added at the end of the book. There is much on the native people, their customs, manners, activities. The book is famous for its fine engraved plates and maps. A picture of this book is available on request.

Hardback. Condition: Good+. First Edition. [5], vi-xxiii, [2], 2-388pp, [1], 2-13pp, [3]. Contemporary tree calf, recently rebacked with original label, smooth spine in seven panels divided by a gilt roll, gilt roll to borders of covers. Slightly rubbed, corners worn with slight loss to calf. Internally very lightly browned, some off setting from plates, light stain to margin of I2, but generally clean. Several small nicks and tears to top margin of several signatures, with occasional small amounts of loss (never affecting text). Folding plates have been guarded, occasional creasing to edges from folding. Armorial bookplate of Arthur W. de Capell Brooke to front pastedown. With an engraved portrait frontispiece engraved by Sharp after Sherwin, large folding map (with small hole to joint) drawn by Forrest and engraved by Fran.[cis] Vivares, with another thirty-one views, maps and charts by various hands but mainly engraved by Vivares after Forrest. For Vivares see Worms and Baynton-Williams, 'British Map Engravers', page 687. Brunet II:1345; Cox II:301; Lowndes 819, noting that it is "full on the physical and moral character of the inhabitants, and on their language, mode of life and trade" and Hill 623, noting that Captain Forrest "sailed in the 'Tartar', a native boat of about ten tons burden, with two English officers and a crew of eighteen Malays. He pushed the expedition as far as Geelvink Bay in New Guinea. The voyage was one of examination and enquiry rather than of exploration, and the additions made to geographical knowledge were corrections of detail rather than startling discoveries, but the tact with which he conducted his intercourse with the natives, and the amount of work done in a small boat, deservedly won him credit as a navigator" Size: 4to.

First edition. Quarto. pp. xxxiii,[1],388,13,[3]. With frontispiece portrait, large folding general map & 31 plates, maps & charts, most of which folding. Some occasional offsetting, and some minor foxing, the plates all neat. Bound in contemporary continental full tree calf with armorial crest to front board, the spine in six panels, gilt, with label and 19th C bookplate of V. Ganling, Ebnet (& his signature to recto of frontis) plus later 20th C bookplate. Lightly rubbed, with a small area lower front board with neat old repair & slight loss of gilt border. With a modern slip-case. VG. [Hill 623; Lowndes 819; Robertson 129; Hanson 62; Tomlinson & Gibson 208; Brunet 1345; Petherick 874; Cox II, 301; Markham & Rye 300; Taylor 431].