xxii, [2], 3-344, [13] index + [2] ad pp. With 4 folding engraved maps & charts; folding engraved view of the Chinese frontier town of Maimatschin. (4to) 27.5x21.5 cm (10¾x8½"), rebound in full modern calf, red and black morocco lettering pieces, fresh endpapers. Second Edition.
This second edition of Coxe's important overview of Russian discoveries in the arctic, has, as Lada-Mocarski notes, "substantially the same contents and makeup" as the first edition of the same year. The work is largely a compilation and translations of accounts of Russian discoveries after those of Bering and Tchirikoff in 1741, supplementing the work of Mueller, with whom, along with P.S. Pallas, Coxe consulted extensively. Pages [17]-174, "Account of the new discoveries made by the Russians..." is a translation from the German of Johann Ludwig Schultz's Neue Nachrichten von dened neuentdekten Insuln in der See zwischen Asien und America, 1776. The maps and charts are:
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General Map of the Russian Empire. 29.7x58.5 cm.
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Krenitzin's and Levasheff's Voyage to the Fox Islands in 1768 and 1769. 20x58.5 cm.
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Chart of Synd's Voyage towards Tschukotskoi Noss. 43x43.5 cm.
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Chart of Shalauroff's Voyage. 11x33 cm.
There was a supplement issued in 1787, "A Comparative View of the Russian Discoveries...," which is sometimes bound with the present work, and was included in the body of the third edition. Though a compilation, Lada-Mocarski observes that "Coxe's work...is a result of contemporary and authoritative sources translated into English, not to be overlooked by scholars and collectors alike...." Hill, discussing this work and its significance, notes that "Coxe made suggestions which led the Russians to promote expeditions of discovery to the northern parts of Siberia. His list of works on the subject, and his observations on the fur trade between the Russians and the Chinese, are very valuable..." Hill 391; Lada-Mocarski, 29; Sabin 17309; Cordier Sinica 2447.
Condition:
Occasional mild dampstains with some toning and creasing; hint of a ripple to leaves; frontispiece map edges and folds reinforced with tape from rear, some offsetting and light foxing to leaves, charts and plate, a few minor stub tears; very good or better overall.