Lot 118: CAMPBELL, ARCHIBALD

A Voyage Round the World from 1806 to 1812, in which Japan, Kamschatka, the Aleutian Islands, and the Sandwich Islands were visited. New York: Van Winkle, Wiley & Co., 1817

12mo (7 3/4 x 4 1/2 in.; 192 x 115 mm). Engraved chart partially outilined in red showing the track of the Eclipse's long boat from Sannack to Kodiak; chart offset to title-page; some browning and moderate spotting and foxing throughout, occasional dampstaining, repairs to long tears affecting text on pp. 63--66, loss to lower right corner of 2 leaves. Modern half calf binding, marbled slipcase. Together with: Broadside announcing the American publication of Campbell's narrative; browned, edges slightly frayed. Matted, glazed, and framed.

LITERATURE

Howes C88; Sabin 10210; cf. Forbes, Hawaiian National Bibliography 448 (1816 ed.); Hill (2004) 244 (1816 ed.)

NOTE

The rare first American edition accompanied by even more fugitive broadside announcing publication of a seaman's adventures and shipwreck along the Northwest coast of America, and his subsequent recuperation in the Sandwich Islands. Only three copies (one lacking the map) have appeared at auction in over 25 years and only three copies have been located in North America (two in the United States and one in Canada).

Born in 1787 in Glasgow, Scotland, Campbell ran away to sea at the age of fourteen. He was a seasoned sailor by the time he signed on the Eclipse from Boston. The ship made stops in Japan, Kamchatka, and Alaska; but it was shipwrecked at Sannack. Campbell and his companions continued in the ship's long boat to Kodiak where the boat sprung a leak in a snowstorm. The party was forced to head to the nearest shore where the boat was wrecked. They struggled to reach the small outpost of Karlouski and thence to the main town of Alexandria. En route, Campbell's sealskin boots were soaked, freezing his feet, which necessitated their amputation to the ankle joint. Two fingers were also frostbitten and amputated.

Campbell was sent to Hawaii to recuperate where he resided for a little over a year and became a sailmaker for Kamehameha I. The second half of his narrative contains vivid descriptions of the king, keen observations of native customs from the point of view of a resident rather than that of a visitor, and a useful Hawaiian-English vocabulary and phrase book. He returned to Scotland in 1810 where he published the account of his adventures and tribulations. With the proceeds Campbell emigrated to New York and started a small business. He was last heard of in that city in 1821. A novel by Stanley D. Porteus based on Campbell's life, The Restless Voyage, was published in 1948.