Lot 08469

FALCONER William, “THE SHIPWRECK, A POEM. Collated with earlier editions. With additional notes and illustrations, and a sketch of the authors life. Embellished with descriptive engravings, by Robert Dodd, Marine Painter”, London: Printed for William Baynes, 1811. 4to, pp. xxxviii, 152. Richly illustrated with a foling map (27 x 30 cm) of Southern Greece, and 24 engravings of which 22 full-page. William Falconer (1732-69), a Scottish seaman and poet, first published The Shipwreck, his major poem, in 1762. He was one of only three survivors of a wreck on on the coast of Greece, on a voyage from Alexandria to Venice. He first published this story, in three cantos, in 1762, meeting an immediate success, and successive publicastions until the early 19th century. Original thick paper boards. Covers & spine detached, many sheets loose, soiling and spotting throughout.