Adam J. von Krusenstern

Voyage Round the World, in the Years 1803, 1804, 1805, & 1806
Adam J. von Krusenstern, 1813
KRUSENSTERN, Adam Johann von (1770-1846). Voyage Round the World, in the Years 1803, 1804, 1805, & 1806, by order of His Imperial Majesty Alexander the First, on board the Ships Nadeshda and Neva. London: for John Murray and the Board of Longitude, 1813.
First edition in English of the first Russian circumnavigation, a voyage undertaken in part with the aim of reducing Russian dependence on England for naval training. Krusenstern had a brilliant corps of officers: Lisiansky (commanding the Neva, see following lot), Rezanov, Langsdorff, Kotzebue and Bellingshausen—all men who went on to make their mark on Pacific exploration. Although sponsored by the Czar, the voyage was funded by the Russian American Company to "open relations with Nippon and the Sandwich Islands, to facilitate trade in South America, to examine California for a possible colony, and to make a thorough study and report on the Northwest coast, its trade and future" (Hill). Krusenstern was a precise and fastidious man; he objected to Richard Hoppner's sometimes inaccurate translation, particularly of navigational terms and references. Arctic Bib. 9381; Cordier Japonica 459; Hill 952; Howes K-272; Lada-Mocarski 61 & 62 (note); Sabin 38331; Streeter sale 3505; Tourville 2561; Wickersham 6234.
Two volumes bound in one, quarto (278 x 210mm). Two hand-colored aquatint frontispieces, folding engraved map (pale dampstain to top margin, a little darker on vol. 1 preliminaries, scattered few spots, 2P1 soiled). Contemporary calf, stamped in blind and gilt (rebacked with original spines laid down). Provenance: W. Lenox Conyngham (bookplate, ownership inscription dated 1819 on first title-page) – Steve Fossett, aviator and adventurer, 1944-2007 (bookplate, his sale, Hindman Auctions, 31 October 2018, lot 108).