[Rarebooks] fa: JOHN BYRON - NARRATIVE of the DISTRESSES SUFFERED on the COAST OF PATAGONIA 1768

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auction ending Sunday, February 22. More details and images can be found at the URL below or by searching under the seller name arch_in_la.

http://tinyurl.com/qgkqdqn

Thanks again,
Ardwight Chamberlain
L.A.


John Byron: The Narrative of the Honourable John Byron (Commodore in a Late Expedition round the World) containing an Account of the Great Distresses Suffered by Himself and His Companions on the Coast of Patagonia, from the Year 1740, till their Arrival in England, 1746. With a Description of St. Jago de Chili, and the Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants. also a Relation of the Loss of the Wager Man of War, One of Admiral Anson’s Squadron. Written by Himself. London: Printed for S. Baker and G. Leigh, MDCCLXVIII [1768]. The second edition (printed the same year as the first). Full period calf, 8vo; [4], viii, 257, [1] pp.; with the half-title and engraved frontispiece. ESTC T144869.

Vice Admiral John ("Foul-weather Jack") Byron, grandfather of Lord Byron, recounts a dramatic tale from his early years, when, as a midshipman, he accompanied George Anson on his circumnavigation of the globe. In May, 1741, Byron's ship the Wager was shipwrecked on the southern coast of Chile. The crew mutinied and divided into two parties, the mutineers taking to the long boat. Byron's group was forced to make a harrowing trek overland, eventually to be captured by natives and handed over to the Spanish. "Admiral Byron's narrative of the loss of the Wager is one of the most thrilling accounts in the language, and supplied his illustrious descendant with many particulars for the shipwreck in Don Juan" (Sabin). His account also contains much of interest on the inhabitants and the flora and fauna of the region.

Wear to the extremities, darkening and rubbing to the spine, joints cracked with the front board loosening but still attached; early/original owner's signature to the title-page; mild toning to the leaves, tea-colored splash-mark to one leaf and a few other occasional small light spots, otherwise the contents are quite clean and crisp. Front paste-down with the engraved armorial bookplate of the Hicks (baronets of Whitcombe Park, Gloucestershire).