Historical Account of the most celebrated Voyages, Travels, and Discoveries, from the Time of Columbus to the Present Period. [Vol. XV, including de Pagès' arctic and antarctic voyages, and Thunberg's 'Travels in Japan and other Countries'.]

12mo: 284 pp. Frontispiece ('Humanity of an Indian to his Ass') and two plates: 'A Cape Planter attacked by a Lion' (facing p.174) and 'Seizure of the Dutch Governor of Formosa by the Japanese' (facing p.240). In original pink wraps, half-bound with cream spine. Good, on aged and lightly-foxed paper. Wraps stained and worn, with loss to spine. Slight foxing to plates. Contains five chapters: 'Travels round the World, performed by Sea and Land, in the Years 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770, and 1771, by M. de Pagès, Captain in the French Navy, &c.'; Voyage of M. de Pagès, towards the South Pole, in 1773 and 1774', 'Voyage of M. de Pagès, towards the North Pole, in 1776'; 'Travels in Europe, Africa, and Asia, performed between the years 1770 and 1779 by Charles Peter Thunberg, M.D. Knight of the Order of Vasa, Professor of Botany in the University of Upsal, &c.', 'Travels in Japan and other Countries, by Charles Peter Thunberg, M.D. Knight of the Order of Vasa, &c.' The first of these accounts includes a description of Texas ('the province of Tegus'), and the 1791 translation on which it is based is said to be the oldest description of the place in the English language.