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30. FITZGERALD
W[illiam]. An ode to the memory of the late Captain James Cook. By W. Fitzgerald
Of Gray's Inn.
30. FITZGERALD
30. FITZGERALD
W[illiam]. An ode to the memory of the late Captain James Cook. By W. Fitzgerald
Of Gray's Inn.
30. FITZGERALD

Lot 30. FITZGERALD, W[illiam].

An ode to the memory of the late Captain James Cook. By W. Fitzgerald, Of Gray's Inn.

£3000 - £4000

An ode to the memory of the late Captain James Cook. By W. Fitzgerald, Of Gray’s Inn. 98423

London, printed for G. Robinson, Pater-Noster-Row; W. Flexney, Holborn; J. Sewell, Cornhill; and R. Faulder, New Bond Street, 1780

Excessively rare contemporary eulogy of Captain Cook of which ESTC lists 6 copies only, none in the USA. As news of Captain Cook’s death started to spread, a handful of eulogies were published in 1780. All are of considerable rarity. Fitzgerald praises Cook and attacks the Hawai’ians : ‘Sons of the savage race, which roamed these pathless plains, your father’s cruelty forever mourn; your guiltless name it stains …’.

First edition. 4to, 16 pp., attractively rebound in red half-morocco gilt, marbled boards, all leaves hinged, original stab marks visible, short slit to title and following 2 leaves, Signature B1 with brown ink stamp of Mercantile Library (illegible), B2 with small (7 x 0.5 cm) strip at head renewed with page numbers in expert facsimile, generally a very attractive example of a rare publication.

[Beddie, 3813-4 (one copy with later added portrait, not called for); Holmes, 37.]

Mercantile Library (old stamp).