Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$420.00 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: [8], 272 pp. Octavo; 22 cm. Lacks frontispiece portrait and map. Rebound in modern cloth. Solid binding. Marginal staining, scattered foxing and minor toning. Howes P494; Sabin 20365, Forbes 178. Provenance: Signed by D.J. Waller Bloomsbury PA, 1891 on loose front end page. Explorers Club (NYC) book plate. "Nathaniel Portlock joined the British navy at the age of twenty-four, and was a junior officer on Captain Cook's third voyage, the first to encounter Hawaii. With him on that trip was another young British officer, George Dixon. In 1785 the two men traveled to the north Pacific. Portlock commanded the 1785-1788 expedition from the ship King George while Dixon captained the Queen Charlotte. The purpose of the expedition was to investigate the potential of the Alaskan fur trade and to resume Cook's search for a Northwest Passage through the continent. The pair left England on August 29, 1785, and took nearly a year to reach Alaska, rounding Cape Horn and touching at Hawaii on the way. They charted the Alaskan coast until winter forced them back to Hawaii. In the spring of 1787 they headed north again, reaching the Kenai Peninsula from which Dixon explored southward while Portlock traded for furs. They wintered again in Hawaii before turning west to China to sell their furs, arriving home in England via the Cape of Good Hope on August 24, 1788." - American Journeys, Wisconsin Historical Society, 2017.
Seller: Sequitur Books, Boonsboro, MD, U.S.A.
Price: US$900.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Two voll. Paris: Maradan, 1789. Second edition in French. Octavo. With 19 of 22 engraved maps and plates (lacking plates 9, 10 and 11); and 23 folding letter-press tables. Bound in contemporary mottled calf, gilt border to the front cover. On the spine, five raised bands with the title and author gilt to morocco in the second panel, and number gilt to morocco in the third. Marbled end-papers. All edges of the text-block marbled. Missouri Historical Society bookplate to the front paste-down (with "DISCARD" ink-stamped) and their ink-stamp twice to the title page and elsewhere. Shelving ink-stamp (completed in graphite manuscript) to the verso of the front free end-paper. Hinges of vol. 1 spilt, with heavy wear to the extremities. Front board of vol. 2 detached, and its rear board nearly so. Tanned generally, with some soiling to the extremities. Occasional mild foxing. Scattered stub- and marginal tears to the folding plates, which are sometimes untidily folded. Nathaniel Portlock (ca. 1748-1817) and George Dixon (1748-1795) were English sea captains, explorers and maritime fur traders. They accompanied Captain Cook on the Third Voyage and undertook this expedition on the Queen Charlotte in the service of King George's Sound Company of London. Portlock and Dixon sought to establish a British presence in the region's fur trade, and more accurately to map and explore the Northwest coast and the Nootka Sound, in present day Alaska and British Columbia. The narrative consists mainly of descriptive letters written by William Beresford, who was a cargo officer on the ship. Dixon contributed valuable charts and appendices. This first octavo edition in French was preceded by a quarto issue, which, like the first edition, was printed in the same year. Howes D 365; Sabin 20366.
Seller: Arader Galleries - AraderNYC, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$2500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First edition of the abridged edition. 272pp., engraved frontispiece, large folding engraved map. Sympathetically rebacked with original marbled papercovered boards. Corners a little worn down, but a handsome, very good or better copy. *Sabin 20365.*.
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
Price: US$2576.53 + shipping
Description: An attractive adaptation of the Portlock and Dixon voyages, "clearly following the Portlock narrative" (Forbes), published in the same year as both men's accounts. This copy with the desirable folding map, an unaltered reissue of that originally published in Dixon's account, which Forbes notes does not appear in all copies. The principal and successful object of Portlock's expedition was to open the fur trade in Northwest America. It was also significant as the first English voyage to visit Hawaii, which it did three times, after that of Captain Cook, on whose third voyage Portlock served. Expedition leader Nathaniel Portlock sailed with George Dixon as co-commander; their two ships, the King George and Queen Charlotte sailed part of the way independently. Though often confused, the published accounts of the two captains, both published in 1789 were independent of each other, although they were advertised for sale as a set by John Stockdale in 1801, and editions such as this abridgement, also published by Stockdale, combined elements of both. "Portlock's vivid encounters with the American Indians and the Russians serve to broaden the perspective provided by the William Beresford/George Dixon account" (Hill). Two years after this voyage Portlock served as commander of the second vessel of the second breadfruit voyage of Captain Bligh. This copy is from the library of Pacific ethnographer and anthropologist James Edge Partington (18541930), with his bookplate, numbered in manuscript, to front pastedown. Partington undertook acquisitional trips to the Pacific, served in an advisory capacity with the Ethnographical Collections at the British Museum, contributed numerous scholarly articles to various journals, and gifted his collection of Pacific ethnographic specimens to the Museum at Auckland, New Zealand. Forbes 178; Hill 1378; Sabin 20365. Octavo (208 x 128 mm). Contemporary mottled sheep, rebacked, original spine laid down, traces of gilt tooling to spine. Engraved frontispiece and title page, printed from the same plate, large folding map. Bookseller's cataloguing loosely inserted. Light flaking to leather at spine, boards scuffed and a little scratched, wear to tips, inner hinges neatly reinforced with gauze, offsetting to endpapers, faint damp mark to bottom margin of first few leaves, including title page, light foxing to map, contents largely clean, foxing to final gathering; a very good copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Price: US$3000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: large 4to, xxix, 360, 47 pp + 17 engraved plates, 5 folding maps and charts. Contemporary calf boards (rubbed through at corners), rebacked with new spine, original marbled endpapers retained. Armorial bookplate of John Bridge on front pastedown, Bridge's name and 1827 date written at head of title page, along with "This book belonged to H.R.H. the Duke of York." We believe this is the John Bridge of the firm Rundell and Bridge, jewelers to the royal family. A few plates and one chart with foxing, but overall a very clean copy. Hill 117: "Dixon's voyage is important as a supplement to Captain Cook and for its contributions to the natural history of the Pacific Northwest. The purpose of the expedition was to establish a trade in furs in North America, but the itinerary also included the Isle of Guernsey, Cape Verde Islands, Falkland Islands, Cape Horn, Sandwich Islands (three times), Cook's River, King George's Sound, Prince William Sound, Macao, Canton, and St. Helena. The voyage was sent out by the King George's Sound Company, which owned both the King George, commanded by expedition leader Nathaniel Portlock, as well as the Queen Charlotte. The two ships sailed independently of one another for part of the expedition. Both Portlock and Dixon had served on Cook's third voyage. The work previously done by Cook along the northwest coast of America was mapped more definitely by Dixon, who discovered the Queen Charlotte Islands, Port Mulgrave, Norfolk Bay, and Dixon Entrance and Archipelago while continuing down the coast and trading with the Indians. The accounts of this expedition relate largely to the geography, ethnology, and natural history of the American coast from Nootka Sound northwest." Streeter Sale VI 3484, Howes D-365, Wickersham 6574, Sabin 20364, Smith 779, Lada -Mocarski 43.
Seller: Walkabout Books, ABAA, Curtis, WA, U.S.A.
Price: US$5000.00 + shipping
Description: First edition. Embellished with Twenty Copper Plates (including 6 folding maps). xii, 384, xl pp. 1 vols. 4to. Portlock and Dixon, captains of the ships King George and Queen Charlotte, set out on behalf of the King George's Sound Company to establish a trade in furs on the northwest coast of America, especially otter furs. Their major accomplishment was the mapping of the coastline, especially their improvement of some of James Cook's maps. Portlock sailed north along the Alaskan coast, while Dixon proceeded south. This book describes the Pacific as well as Alaska, as the two captains kept separate logs, and the copper plates and folding maps were well-regarded at the time of publication. This book has been described as ".the principal account of the first commercial voyage to the Northwest Coast and the first English voyage to visit Hawaii after that of Captain James Cook." Forbes. Cox II: 27; Howes, US-iana, P487; Sabin 64389; Forbes, Hawaiian National Bibliography; Smith, Pacific Northwest Americana 8304; Wagner, The Cartography of the Northwest Coast of America, vol. I, pp. 207 & 213; James Ford Bell Library Catalogue P365. Field 1231; National Maritime Museum 141; Hill Volume One, p. 239; Streeter Sale VI, 3485; Lada-Mocarski 42; Wood p. 523 Contemporary calf (scuffed), rebacked, endpapers renewed. Lower right corner of title-leaf missing, with loss of several letters from imprint, small library stamp on title, portrait backed, lower corner missing with loss to imprint and caption, folding map with tape-repairs on verso. Some offsetting from plates, some spotting and soiling to text. Sound copy of a scarce book Embellished with Twenty Copper Plates (including 6 folding maps). xii, 384, xl pp. 1 vols. 4to
Seller: James Cummins Bookseller, ABAA, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$6376.90 + shipping
Description: 1789, London, first edition, 4to, printed for John Stockdale, opposite Burlington-House, Piccadilly, and George Goulding, James Street, Covent Garden, pp xii, 384, xl, large folding map and nineteen charts and plates complete, full contemporary calf, modern spine ornately tooled in gilt rose and compass designs, lettered in gilt on a red label. Nathaniel Portlock (circa 1748-1817), ship's captain, maritime fur-trader and author. He entered the Royal Navy in 1772 as an able seaman, serving in HMS St. Albans. In 1776, he joined HMS Discovery as master's mate and served on the third Pacific voyage of Captain James Cook. In 1785 he formed a partnership with George Dixon, after they were appointed by the King George's Sound Company to command the King George and the Queen Charlotte respectively, explicitly to develop the fur trade. The boards a little rubbed, a few trifling marks in the text, otherwise a very fresh copy.
Seller: Graham York Rare Books ABA ILAB, Honiton, United Kingdom
Price: US$6500.00 + shipping
Description: xii,384,xl pp. plus six folding maps, two portraits (including frontispiece), and twelve plates. Large quarto. 19th-century three-quarter calf and marbled boards, spine gilt, raised bands. Extremities rubbed, small private shelf mark at bottom of spine, modern bookplate on front pastedown. Occasional light marginal foxing, mild offsetting from plates. Very good. Portlock, a veteran of Cook's third voyage, and Dixon were sent by the King George's Sound Company to the northwest coast of North America to investigate the economic possibilities of the fur trade there. En route they had a long stay in Hawaii, and Portlock's narrative of this visit is of particular interest since Portlock and Dixon were the first captains to visit the Hawaiian Islands since the death of Cook. He gives an important account of the situation there, already much altered by European contact. The voyage then proceeded to the Northwest to survey the region. Portlock and Dixon separated, with Portlock exploring northward up the Alaskan coast and Dixon proceeding southward to Nootka Sound. Both Dixon and Portlock published accounts of the voyage, but Portlock's is of greater value for his particularly vivid descriptions of the Native Americans and Russians in the region. There is a general map of the Northwest Coast and five maps of particular harbors along the Coast, all listed by Wagner. Of special interest are the five plates of birds, here in the uncolored state. WAGNER NORTHWEST COAST 738-43. STREETER SALE 3485. LADA-MOCARSKI 42. HILL 1376. FIELD 1231. LANDE 1393. COWAN, p.181. SABIN 64389. TPL 599. HOWES P497, "b." FORBES 177. REESE, BEST OF THE WEST 16 (note).
Seller: William Reese Company - Americana, New Haven, CT, U.S.A.
Price: US$7500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 4to. pp. xii, 384, xl. 1 large folding engraved general chart, 5 other folding engraved charts & plans, engraved frontis. portrait & 13 engraved plates. contemporary calf, rebacked (slight staining along folds of 2 maps & to top edge of 2 plates supplied). First Edition. Nathaniel Portlock and William Dixon, both veterans of Captain Cooks third voyage to the Pacific in 1776-80, were engaged in 1785 by the King Georges Sound Company, to investigate reports of the lucrative fur trade on the northwest American coast and establish a trade on their behalf. Their major accomplishment, however, was the more detailed exploration and mapping of the coast and improving of Cooks charts of the region. On the voyage out, visits were made to the Falkland and Hawaiian Islands. The two ships later separated and sailed independently for a major part of the expedition, Portlock exploring northward up along the Alaskan coast, Dixon proceeding south to Nootka Sound, and discovering Queen Charlotte Island, Port Mulgrave and Norfolk Bay. Both Dixon and Portlock published accounts of the voyage, but Portlocks, as Hill points out, is of particular interest and value for his vivid descriptions of encounters with the Russians and American Indians. Several Indian vocabularies are also included. The maps and plans comprise a chart of the North West Coast of America, and sketches of Grahams Harbour and Coal Bay, McLeods Harbour, Part of the West Side of Montague Island, Port Etches and Brooks Harbour, and Portlocks and Gopuldings Harbours. Bell P 365. Cowan p. 181. Field 1231. Gagnon I 2786. Hill p. 239. Howes P-497. JCB II 3316. Lada-Mocarski 42. Lande 1393. Sabin 64389. Smith 8304. Strathern & Edwards 450. Streeter VI 3485. TPL 599. Wagner, Cartography, I pp. 207, 213; Maps 738-743.\
Seller: D & E LAKE LTD. (ABAC/ILAB), Toronto, ON, Canada
Price: US$7995.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Hardback in Very Good+ condition without dust jacket. 4to 11" - 13" tall. 1st edition of Portlocks account of his voyage to explore Americas northwest coast including British Columbia, Alaska, Vancouver and Queen Charlottes Island). Rare deluxe colored Issue with 20 engraved plates, charts and maps - 6 folding charts or maps, 2 engraved portraits, 12 engraved plates (the 5 ornithological plates with contemporary hand-coloring, as issued). Well illustrated with 20 plates and maps: one large folding general map of the Northwest Coast, and five maps of particular harbours along the coast. Bound in full leather with 5 raised bands on the spine. Gilt decorated spine and boards. Hinges intact and binding is solid and straight. No ownership markings. Some rubbing along board edges and bands on spine. Quick shipping, excellent customer service. All books carefully packaged and ship with tracking information.
Seller: Easton's Books, Inc., Mount Vernon, WA, U.S.A.
Price: US$8000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Printed for John Stockdale and George Goulding. 1789, London. Modern Half Morocco and coloured boards, very good condition EXCEPT for a few stains in upper inner corners of some pages, not affecting plates. 11 5/8 x 9 ¼ 4to; pp.xii, 384, xl (appendix); frontis. Portrait; 13 engraved plates, 6 folding charts IN an attractive custom fitted MODERN LINEN SLIPCASE Portlock and Dixon were sent to the Northwest Coast to investigate reports of the lucrative fur trade there. They had a long stay in Hawaii, then proceeded to the Northwest to survey. Portlock, a veteran of Cook s third voyage, gives vivid accounts of Indians encountered. There is a general map of the Northwest Coast and five maps of particular harbors along the coast, all listed by Wagner. Of special interest are the five plates of birds
Seller: Cat House Books LLC, Pensacola, FL, U.S.A.
Price: US$11311.00 + shipping
Description: [7],viii-xii,384,xl. pp. Quarto. (26 X 33 cm.) Bound in recent blue paper covered boards with plain brown paper spine to match the original. Text block untrimmed. Original endpapers reused. Bookplate on front pastedown. Five folding maps of harbours. Large general chart. 5 hand coloured plates of birds. 9 plates plus a frontispiece for a total of 20 plates and maps. The frontis portrait has had the outer margin renewed and a few text pages have also been renewed. This is also a thick paper copy. Lada-Mocarski 42, SABIN 64389. STREETER SALE 3485. TPL 599. WAGNER NORTHWEST COAST 738-43. This early narrative details the early exploration on the Northwest Coast of Canada. Nathaniel Portlock, a member of Cook's third voyage, and George Dixon also a member of Cook's ill fated expedition were sent by the King George's Sound Company to the Northwest coast of North America to investigate the economic possibilities of the fur trade there. Two ships were purchased and renamed the King George and the Queen Charlotte. Portlock was put in charge of the King George and put in overall command. Captain Dixon was in command of the Queen Charlotte. They left England in 1785 and enroute they had a long stay in Hawaii. Portlock's narrative of this visit is of particular interest since Portlock and Dixon were the first captains to visit the Hawaiian islands since the death of Cook. He gives an important account of the current situation there. The voyage then proceeded to the Northwest, arriving in July 1786. Portlock and Dixon separated, with Portlock exploring northward up the Alaskan coast and Dixon proceeding southward to Nootka Sound. Both captains published accounts of the voyage, but Portlock is of greater value for his particularly vivid descriptions of the Native Americans and Russians in the region. The work is well illustrated with twenty plates and maps: these include a fine large folding general map of the Northwest Coast, and five maps of particular harbours along the coast. In the regular issue the five bird plates are uncolored and the text is printed on laid paper. The deluxe issues, as here, is considerably rarer than the usual uncolored examples. Besides the obvious benefit of handcolored illustrations, the paper used is of superior quality.
Seller: Aquila Books(Cameron Treleaven) ABAC, Calgary, AB, Canada
Price: US$12500.00 + shipping
Description: (11 7/8 x 9 1/8 inches). xii, 384, xl pp. 20 engraved plates, charts and maps (6 folding charts or maps, 2 engraved portraits, 12 engraved plates [including 5 ornithological plates with contemporary hand-colouring, as issued]). Contemporary full tree calf boards bordered in gilt, flat spine gilt in compartments, red morocco lettering piece, marbled endpapers. Rare deluxe issue with hand-coloured plates of the first edition of a classic narrative of the early exploration on the Northwest coast. Portlock, a veteran of Cook's third voyage, and Dixon were sent by the King George's Sound Company to the Northwest coast of North America to investigate the economic possibilities of the fur trade there. En route, they had a long stay in Hawaii, and Portlock's narrative of this visit is of particular interest since Portlock and Dixon were the first captains to visit the Hawaiian islands since the death of Cook. He gives an important account of the situation there, already much altered by European contact. The voyage then proceeded to the Northwest to survey the region. Portlock and Dixon separated, with Portlock exploring northward up the Alaskan coast and Dixon proceeding southward to Nootka Sound. Both Dixon and Portlock published accounts of the voyage, but Portlock is of greater value for his particularly vivid descriptions of the Native Americans and Russians in the region. In addition to the lively narrative, the work is well illustrated with 20 plates and maps: these include a fine large folding general map of the Northwest Coast, and five maps of particular harbours along the coast. In the regular issue, the five bird plates are uncoloured and the text is printed on laid paper. A contemporary advertisement announcing the publication offers "a few copies . printed on fine paper, hot pressed and plates coloured." These deluxe issues, as here, are considerably more rare than the usual uncoloured examples. Besides the obvious benefit of hand-coloured illustrations, the paper used for the text of this deluxe issue is a higher quality paper. Forbes Hawaii 177; Judd Voyages 147; Hill (2004) 1376; Howes P487 "b."; Lada-Mocarski 42; Sabin 64389; Streeter Sale 3485; TPL 599; Wagner Northwest Coast 738-43; Wood p.523.
Seller: Donald A. Heald Rare Books (ABAA), New York, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$12500.00 + shipping
Description: Quarto (350 x 240 mm), 360, 48 pp.,with 22 engraved maps, charts, and plates Original blue-gray paper boards, parchment spine. Printed on thick paper (4 cm.+) and with the natural history plates beautifully colored. Old public library stamps on versos of plates, minor spotting and offsetting, but a superb, completely untrimmed, copy "George Dixon's account of his trading voyage in the Queen Charlotte forms an important supplement and companion to Nathaniel Portlock's narrative of the same on the King George.It is important for its account of trading at Hawaii, Kauai, and Niihau, with considerable information on the chiefs and the political atmosphere of the period". Forbes 161.
Seller: Thomas A. Goldwasser Rare Books (ABAA), CHESTER, CT, U.S.A.
Price: US$16000.00 + shipping
Description: (12 x 9 3/8 inches). xii, 384, xl pp. 20 engraved plates, charts and maps (6 folding charts or maps, 2 engraved portraits, 12 engraved plates [the 5 ornithological plates with contemporary hand-colouring, as issued]). Contemporary rose calf, flat spine in six compartments, ruled in gilt, titled in the second compartment, repeat gilt decoration in the others, marbled endpapers and edges Rare deluxe issue with hand-coloured plates of the first edition of a classic narrative of the early exploration on the Northwest coast. Portlock, a veteran of Cook's third voyage, and Dixon were sent by the King George's Sound Company to the Northwest coast of North America to investigate the economic possibilities of the fur trade there. En route, they had a long stay in Hawaii, and Portlock's narrative of this visit is of particular interest since Portlock and Dixon were the first captains to visit the Hawaiian islands since the death of Cook. He gives an important account of the situation there, already much altered by European contact. The voyage then proceeded to the Northwest to survey the region. Portlock and Dixon separated, with Portlock exploring northward up the Alaskan coast and Dixon proceeding southward to Nootka Sound. Both Dixon and Portlock published accounts of the voyage, but Portlock is of greater value for his particularly vivid descriptions of the Native Americans and Russians in the region. In addition to the lively narrative, the work is well illustrated with 20 plates and maps: these include a fine large folding general map of the Northwest Coast, and five maps of particular harbours along the coast. In the regular issue, the five bird plates are uncoloured and the text is printed on laid paper. A contemporary advertisement announcing the publication offers "a few copies . printed on fine paper, hot pressed and plates coloured." These deluxe issues, as here, are considerably more rare than the usual uncoloured examples. Besides the obvious benefit of hand-coloured illustrations, the paper used for the text of this deluxe issue is a higher quality paper. Forbes Hawaii 177; Judd Voyages 147; Hill (2004) 1376; Howes P487 "b."; Lada-Mocarski 42; Sabin 64389; Streeter Sale 3485; TPL 599; Wagner Northwest Coast 738-43; Wood p.523.
Seller: Donald A. Heald Rare Books (ABAA), New York, NY, U.S.A.