A voyage round the world by way of the Great South Sea

Perform’d in the years 1719, 20, 21, 22, in the Speedwell of London, of 24 guns and 100 men, (under His Majesty’s Commission to cruize on the Spaniards in the late war with the Spanish Crown) till she was cast away on the Island of Juan Fernandes, in May 1720; and afterwards continu’d in the recovery, the Jesus Maria and Sacra Familia, &c.

London : J. Senex, W. and J. Innys, and J. Osborn and T. Longman, 1726. Octavo, contemporary calf, expertly rebacked with new spine, contrasting morocco title label lettered in gilt, bookplate from the Ingleton collection to front pastedown, folding frontispiece map of the world showing the voyage of the Speedwell, California shown as an island; decorative vignette of the ship to title-page, pp. [viii], xxxii; [iv]; 468, with four engraved plates (two folding) including of natives of California; occasional light foxing, small stain to upper margin, small wormhole to final few leaves, a very good copy.

Shelvocke’s account of the privately-funded expedition to raid Spanish ships and ports along the west coast of South America during the war with Spain that broke out in 1718. The voyage sailed around Cape Horn and up the coastline of Chile to the Galapagos and California, where Shelvocke was one of the first to suggest the possibility of finding gold. It continued across the Pacific Ocean to Formosa, the Philippines, Canton and Borneo, and back to England via the Cape of Good Hope.

Note: During a severe storm while rounding Cape Horn, one of Shelvocke’s crew members shot a black albatross, believing it to be a bad omen. This specific incident is widely believed to have inspired Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s famous poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Provenance:

Geoffrey Ingleton, his bookplate to front pastedown, catalogue number 6832 to rear pastedown.