A Narrative of the Death of Captain James Cook. To which are added some Particulars, concerning his Life and Character. And Observations respecting the Introduction of the Venereal Disease into the Sandwich Islands

Quarto (300 x 232 mm.), pp. iv, 34 [without final blank]; recently bound in speckled half calf to style, smooth spine with triple gilt fillets, gilt floral motif at foot, red morocco label, contemporary marbled paper sides, top edge cut, others uncut. First edition: one of the rarest and most desirable of all Pacific voyage narratives, and among the earliest books devoted to Hawaii. We have traced only five copies at auction in the past fifty years, confirming its reputation as one of the most elusive of all eighteenth-century voyage accounts. The catalogue of the Hill Collection aptly describes it as "the highlight of a Cook collection". David Samwell (1751-1798), a Welsh surgeon who sailed on Cook's final voyage, joined the Resolution as surgeon's mate before becoming surgeon of the Discovery in 1778. His account of Cook's death at Kealakekua Bay is of exceptional importance, providing what Sir Maurice Holmes described as "the fullest, most detailed and most objective" narrative of the event. Drawing carefully on eyewitness testimony, Samwell's work fills significant gaps left by the official account and remains a cornerstone source for understanding the circumstances surrounding Cook's death. The book was written in part to correct the impression created by the official narrative of the voyage published under the editorship of James King in 1784. As Samwell observed in his preface, public opinion had come to attribute Cook's death "in some measure, to rashness or too much confidence on his side; whereas nothing can be more ill-founded or unjust" (p. iii). Holmes later remarked that the work is particularly valuable because it addresses matters "suppressed in the official account", especially regarding responsibility for Cook's death, and because Samwell's assessment of Cook's character, coming from "an educated man who knew him well", must be read alongside King's in order to gain a balanced view of the navigator as he appeared to those who served under him. Samwell provides a detailed reconstruction of the fatal encounter at Kealakekua Bay. In several respects his account differs from the official version. Discussing Cook's first wound, he notes that although one eyewitness supported the claim made in the official voyage that Cook had been stabbed first, the testimony of numerous other witnesses convinced him that Cook was initially struck with a club, a conclusion later confirmed to him by the Hawaiian priest Kaireekea (pp. 15-16). Samwell also places considerable responsibility on Lieutenant John Williamson, whom he accuses of failing to support Cook during the attack. The narrative of Cook's death is followed by a biographical memoir, largely reverential in tone, and concludes with observations on the spread of venereal disease among the indigenous peoples of the Pacific. As a surgeon, Samwell was particularly well placed to discuss the subject, although his contention that there was insufficient proof that Europeans first introduced the disease to Hawaii is now generally regarded as doubtful. He records that despite Cook's efforts to prohibit intercourse between his sailors and Polynesians during the first visit in 1778, the disease had become widespread by the expedition's return later that year. Apart from its rarity, the work exercised considerable influence. It provided a major source for Andrew Kippis's Life of Captain James Cook (1788) and his contribution to Biographia Britannica (1789). Unlike many contemporary accounts of Cook's third voyage, which appeared in numerous European editions and piracies, Samwell's narrative was published only in this English edition and a French translation. Not until David Magee's Captain Cook and Hawaii (1957), introduced by Sir Maurice Holmes, was the text reprinted. Holmes noted on that occasion that the original printing was "of great rarity and correspondingly expensive". The book holds a prominent place in Hawaiian bibliography. The Hill catalogue observes that, among the e.…