History of the Voyages and Discoveries in the North

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A learned account of various expeditions seeking to discover northwest and northeast passages in North America. Author Johann Reinhold Forster was a Reformed pastor and naturalist of partially Scottish descent who made contributions to the early ornithology of Europe and North America. He is best known as the naturalist on James Cook's second Pacific voyage, where he was accompanied by his son Georg Forster. According to the rear endpaper inscription, a former owner considered him to be a "rascally priest." Although the title page states the book should have "a new and original map of the countries situated about the North Pole," no map is included in this volume. An English edition of the same year had three maps. The White family resided at Kilburn or "Kilbyrne" in Co. Cork from the early 18th century to the mid 20th century. Their original building was replaced by a new house in the late 1820s and it's likely this book came from its library. The voyages in the volume include those of Marco Polo, Sir John Mandeville, John Cabot, Martin Fobisher, Sir Humphry Gilbert, Henry Hudson, William Baffin, the Hudson's Bay Company, James Cook, Dutch Greenland Company, Jacques Cartier, and many more. Show more