Anson, George--[Philips, John]

FIRST EDITION, 8vo (192 x 110mm.), [4], 60pp., calf, gilt spine, black label, covers bordered in gilt, yellow edges, first two leaves slightly browned

J. Edge-Partington, bookplate

Hill (2004) 39 and cf. 1344 (the later edition of the same year); Sabin 1631 and cf. 62458

THE FIRST ACCOUNT OF ANSON'S VOYAGE, described as "extremely rare" by Hill. Another later edition of the same year is attributed to Midshipman John Philips: “There are doubts about the existence of John Philips, midshipman of the Centurion. In his Pacific Islands Literature – One Hundred Basic Books, A. Grove Day asserts that John Philips is a pseudonym, as there is no such name on the ship’s muster. The pseudonym may have been used because this account was published four years before the appearance of Richard Walter’s official narrative of Anson’s voyage, and included information that was not considered ready for publication: Philips wrote about John Bulkeley, mutineer on the Wager, whose court martial was still being debated at the time of this publication” (Hill, of the J. Robinson edition, Hill 1344).