(Anson, George) | The "extremely rare" first account of Anson's voyage

(Anson, George) — [John Philips]

An Authentic Account of Commodore Anson's Expedition...Taken from a Private Journal. London: M Cooper, 1744

8vo (191 x 111 mm). Title-page and final leaf a little browned and spotted, repaired tear to title. Modern paneled calf; endleaves renewed.

The "extremely rare" first account of Anson's voyage.

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).

REFERENCES:

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