4to., (11 4/8 x 9 3/8 inches). Half-title. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Cook. 20th-century half tan calf, cloth. Provenance: with the contemporary ownership inscription of Mary R. Williams at the head of the title-page. THE FIRST ENGLISH BIOGRAPHY OF COOK First separate edition. Considered as the leading biographer of his day, some of his most important biographies include lives of Anthony Ashley Cooper, first earl of Shaftesbury (1790; republished, 1836), Captain Cook (1778) as here, Philip Doddridge (1792), and Job Orton (1822). His life of Cook caused him no little anxiety on publication "A Narrative of the Life of Captain Cook must principally consist of the voyages and discoveries he made, and the difficulties and dangers to which he was exposed. The private incidents concerning him, though collected with the utmost diligence, can never compare, either in number or importance, with his public transactions. Those who are best acquainted with Captain Cook's expeditions, may be pleased with reviewing them in a more compendious form, and with having his actions placed in a closer point of view, in consequence of their being divested of the minute nautical and other details, which were essentially necessary in the voyages at large" (Preface). Kippis's magnum opus was his five volume "Biographia" published between 1778 and 1793, which included this biography of Cook in volume IV, and which is advertised at the end of the book, marked a "significant development in biographical literature that was built upon in the following century. It was a monumental achievement of scholarship, not only on Kippis's part but also on that of the contributors whom he employed" (Alan Ruston for DNB). Hill 935; Sabin 37954. Catalogued by Kate Hunter.