By John Bulkeley & John Cummins

London, Jacob Robinson, 1743. FIRST EDITION. Octavo, pp xx, 220. Contemporary speckled calf, boards with double gilt fillets, spine with gilt fillets and morocco title label, title in gilt. Mildly rubbed, spine slightly faded. Offset from turn-ins on first and last few leaves. Contemporary annotation page 105, calculating numbers of men lost: "total 81/lived 32/lost 49… etc". A very good+ copy in an attractive leather binding.

"This is one of the principal accounts of the "Wager", which was wrecked off the southern coast of Chile after rounding Cape Horn. Under the command of Captain Cheap, the "Wager" was one of Anson’s fleet, which was on its way to harass the Spanish. After the wreck, gunner John Bulkeley and carpenter John Cummins conducted the mutinous part of the crew until they arrived safely in Rio de Janeiro. Much of the adventure and interest of the account is in the description of their travails passing through the Strait of Magellan in a longboat. There are two editions of 1743: the first, here, published by Jacob Robinson, giving the author’s names on the title page; the other, published by J. Twig, ommitting the author’s names. The work is dedicated to Edward Vernon, vice-admiral of the blue." (Hill p 74). Regarding Byron’s account of the same events, (Byron, Narrative, 1768), Sabin and Hill have this to say: "Admiral Byron’s narrative of the loss of the "Wager" is one of the most thrilling accounts in the language…" (Sabin). "Byron was a midshipman aboard the "Wager" when it was wrecked on an island off the Chilean coast. He describes the privations endured bu the survivors who remained with Captain David Cheap. They were tended by the Indians until discovered and taken prisoner by the Spanish authorities. This narrative supplied Byron’s grandson, the poet Lord Byron, with many particulars for the shipwreck in canto II of "Don Juan". The wreck of the "Wager" led to major changes in British nautical law relating to shipwreck. Byron, known as "Foul-Weather Jack", commanded a voyage around the world in the "Dolphin" from 1764 to 1766…This important book was exceedingly popular." (Hill p 81). Hill p 74, Sabin 9108.