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• Auction House:
  Mossgreen
• Sale Name:
  The Denis Joachim Collection
• Sale Date:
  19 Jun 2016 ~ 2pm - Session 1: Lots 1 - 321
  20 Jun 2016 ~ 10am - Session 2: Lots 322 - 480
  20 Jun 2016 ~ 2pm - Session 3: Lot 481 - 688
  20 Jun 2016 ~ 6pm - Session 4: Lots 689 - 818
• Lot #:
  27
• Lot Description:
  Parkinson, Sydney. A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas, in His Majesty’s Ship, The Endeavour. Faithfully
  transcribed from the Papers of the late Sydney Parkinson, Draughtsman to Joseph Banks, Esq. On his late Expedition, with Dr. Solander, round the World. Quarto, with frontispiece portrait, a map and 26 plates, errata leaf, a tall copy with good margins, polished calf of the period, skilfully rebacked, spine gilt, retaining the original endpapers and spine label. London, Printed for Stanfield Parkinson, the Editor, and sold by Messrs Richardson and Urquhart, Evans, Hooper, Murray, Leacroft, and Riley, 1773.
• Notes:
  First edition of the principal alternative account of Cook’s first voyage and probably the most handsome of all the unofficial accounts of any of Cook’s voyages. Sydney Parkinson, a young natural-history draughtsman, was employed by Banks as part of his scientific entourage on the Endeavour voyage. During the voyage this “ardent, observant, humane, pleasantly romantic, very hard-working young man” (Beaglehole) completed a huge number of drawings of botanical and natural history subjects as well as landscapes and portraits of native peoples in Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia. It is also known that he kept up a detailed journal of the voyage. After the Endeavour left Batavia on the return voyage, Parkinson caught fever and dysentery and was buried at sea before the ship reached the Cape of Good Hope. Parkinson’s account was produced to a high standard, on large paper with very generous margins and with fine engraved plates. His plain and unaffected style makes his extensive account of Australia and New Zealand particularly useful – he is, for example, the first to notice the kangaroo by name – while Beaglehole finds his real virtue to be in “the sidelights on incidents otherwise sufficiently natural or verifiable, where a landsman’s and artist’s (and perhaps a Quaker’s) sensibilities were engaged”. The publication of Parkinson’s posthumous account was a somewhat dramatic affair. On the return of the expedition to England, Parkinson’s brother, Stanfield, sought and obtained Sydney’s papers from Sir Joseph Banks. Since “no fair and continuous copy of [his] journal could be found… the published journal is from a bundle of Parkinson’s papers lent by Banks to his brother” (Beaglehole). But Stanfield’s attempts to publish this edited journal were temporarily frustrated when Hawkesworth and Banks obtained an injunction preventing publication until after the official account had appeared. The ownership of Parkinson’s papers and drawings were also a matter of acrimonious dispute between Stanfield and Banks. Dr John Fothergill, a Quaker like the Parkinsons and a friend of Banks, attempted to settle the dispute, only to find himself the subject of Stanfield’s acrimony as well. Stanfield died insane shortly after the publication of the book, and the remaining four hundred or so copies were bought up by Fothergill, both to save the Parkinson family from financial distress and to protect himself and Banks from the virulent preface that Stanfield had prepared for the book. Bagnall, 4466; Beaglehole, I, pp. ccliii-cclv; Beddie, 712; Davidson, pp. 54-6; Hill 2, 1308; Hocken, p. 12-3; Holmes, 7; Kroepelien, 944; Sabin, 58787
• Estimate:
  A$10,000 - 15,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Books & Manuscripts

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.