Lot 42: JOHN MEARES (1756?-1809)

Voyages made in the years 1788 and 1789, from China to the North West Coast of America. To which is prefixed, An Introductory Narrative of a Voyage performed in 1786, from Bengal, in the Ship Nootka; observations on the probable existence of a North West Passage; and some account of the trade between the North West Coast of America and China; and the latter country and Great Britain. London: The Logographic Press for J. Walter, 1790. 4° (290 x 228mm). Frontispiece portrait and 16 engraved or aquatint plates, 6 double-page, and 10 maps, 3 folding. (One map browned and repaired at folds, some spotting to plates.) 20th-century half calf gilt over 19th-century marbled boards, spine gilt in compartments, gilt morocco lettering-pieces in 2, yellow edges (a little rubbed, spine slightly faded). Provenance: Anna Fox (early signature on title).

SCARCE FIRST EDITION ON THE CHINA TRADE WITH NORTH AMERICA, these voyages commanded by Meares 'are an important link in the chain of American discovery, of which he was one of the pioneers, and on whom Britain's claim to the Oregon Territory depended' (Sabin). Following his 1786 voyage from Bengal in the Nootka, Meares took the ships Iphigenia and Felice from Calcutta for a company of Merchant Proprietors to enter the fur trade between the northwest coast of America and China, sailing under a Portuguese flag to avoid the British fur monopoly. It was in Cook Inlet that his ship became frozen in and twenty-three officers and crew died of scurvy in 1786. Their rescue by Captains Portlock and Dixon led to a long controversy over Meares' infringement of the South Sea Company monopoly on fur trading on the American coast. From 1788 to 1789 Meares explored and took possession of the Straits of Juan de Fuca for Britain and established a base at Nootka Sound where he built the schooner Northwest America, the first vessel launched in northern waters. He also made coastal surveys and discoveries which became part of Britain's claim to Oregon and led to near-war with Spain and the Nootka Controversy. Spain seized his ship Iphigenia, for which Meares claimed compensation, and later seized Captain Colnett's ship the Argonaut, all of which led to the Nootka Treaty of 1790. Meares succeeded in making the voyage to China and sold his furs, yet the entire venture was a financial loss for the Merchants Proprietors. The work is edited by William Combe from Meares' papers which give a very full description of the Northwest Indians, their villages, languages and customs. Hill 1126; Lada-Mokarski 46; Abbey Travel 594; Cox II, p. 29; Sabin 46260; Lust 344.

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