Alexander Campbell | The sequel to Bulkeley and Cummins' Voyage to the South-Seas, London, 1747, 8vo, half calf

Alexander Campbell

The Sequel to Bulkeley and Cummins' Voyage to the South-Seas: or, the adventures of Capt. Cheap, the Hon. Mr. Byron, Lieut. Hamilton, Alexander Campbell, and others, late of his Majesty's Ship the Wager, which was wrecked on a desolate Island. London: W. Owen, 1747

FIRST EDITION, 8vo (190 x 120mm.), a few neat marginal annotations in pencil, half calf gilt, contemporary marbled boards, red morocco label, sprinkled edges, some light offsetting, rebacked

A very scarce account from a survivor of the ship Wager, wrecked off the Patagonian coast. "This work was recalled soon after it was published and suppressed, so that few copies are to be found" (Hill). 

"The Wager was wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Chile in circumstances in which all discipline vanished. Amid scenes of defiance and violence most of the crew mutinied, and split into groups to attempt their escape. Led by the gunner, the largest of these groups made a small-boat voyage through the Straits of Magellan that stands as a remarkable feat of seamanship". (Williams, 3).

"Fourteen of the crew, including Campbell and Byron, elected to stay with Captain Cheap. They made their way north along the coast of Chile, fell into the hands of Indians, and were turned over to the Spanish authorities. They finally reached England in 1746" (Hill).

LITERATURE:

Hill, 243; Sabin, 10205; Williams, 3

PROVENANCE:

Hartshorne, armorial bookplate