Is My Voyages (the official accounts of the three voyages) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The census imprint is wrong for the third voyage — the set does not carry a uniform Strahan/Cadell imprint
• FIRST VOYAGE: Hawkesworth, 'An Account of the Voyages undertaken... in the Southern Hemisphere', London: W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1773, 3 vols 4to (approx
• 292 x 232 mm), 51 engraved plates, maps and charts, 41 folding
• Beddie 648
• A second edition appeared in the same year (Beddie 650); the early issue of the first lacks the large folding chart of the Strait of Magellan and the 'Preface to the second edition' in which Hawkesworth answers Alexander Dalrymple, both of which belong to the second edition, and first-edition copies are found with them supplied
• SECOND VOYAGE: 'A Voyage towards the South Pole, and Round the World', London: W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1777, 2 vols 4to, with the engraved portrait of Cook by J. Basire after William Hodges and 63 engraved plates, charts and maps (many folding) plus a folding letterpress table

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
3. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

All three official accounts are London originals, so no UK-versus-US or translation precedence applies — but 'first published account' and 'official first edition' are different things for every voyage, and the unofficial account came first each time. The Endeavour voyage reached print anonymously as 'A Journal of a Voyage round the World, in His Majesty's Ship Endeavour' (London: for T. Becket and P.A. De Hondt, 1771), attributed to James Magra (later Matra), published less than three months after the ship's return and two years before Hawkesworth; its first issue carries a dedication leaf that was suppressed during publication after the Admiralty, Banks and Solander publicly disavowed the book, and the second issue lacks that leaf. Georg Forster's 'A Voyage Round the World' (London, 1777) was published on 17 March 1777, six weeks before Cook's own second-voyage account, making it the first published account of the second voyage. Rickman's anonymous 'Journal of Captain Cook's last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean' (London: E. Newbery, 1781) preceded the official third-voyage account by three years. Where a collection holds both, name the official first edition and the unofficial precursor separately.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issues exist for these titles. The reprint tells that matter: later editions of each voyage reuse the same or a closely similar London imprint — the second voyage's second edition is even dated 1777 like the first (Beddie 1217 versus 1216) — while the third voyage's second and third editions are dated 1785, the second in four volumes. Abridgements, composite 'authentic narrative' compilations and made-up sets assembled from mixed editions are common in this market, so collate each voyage independently rather than judging the set as a unit; a complete first-edition set requires the third voyage's folio Atlas, which is frequently separated from the text volumes.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Voyages (the official accounts of the three voyages) a first edition?

A first edition of Voyages (the official accounts of the three voyages) by Captain James Cook (with Hawkesworth, and King) (First voyage: W. Strahan and T. Cadell, London, 1773. Second voyage: W. Strahan and T. Cadell, London, 1777. Third voyage: printed by W. & A. Strahan for G. Nicol and T. Cadell, London, 1784) is identified by: The census imprint is wrong for the third voyage — the set does not carry a uniform Strahan/Cadell imprint.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. All three official accounts are London originals, so no UK-versus-US or translation precedence applies — but 'first published account' and 'official first edition' are different things for every voyage, and the unofficial account came first each time.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book-club issues exist for these titles. The reprint tells that matter: later editions of each voyage reuse the same or a closely similar London imprint — the second voyage's second edition is even dated 1777 like the first (Beddie 1217 versus 1216) — while the third voyage's second and third editions are dated 1785, the second in four volumes. Abridgements, composite 'authentic narrative' compilations and made-up sets assembled from mixed editions are common in this market, so collate each v

I have a first edition of Voyages (the official accounts of the three voyages) — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.