[Relation des voyages entrepris par ordre de sa majesté britannique, et successivement exécutés par le commodore Byron, le capitaine Carteret, le capitaine Wallis & le capitaine Cook, dans les vaisseaux le Dauphin, le Swallow & l'Endeavour. Paris: Saillant et Nyon, Panckouke, 1774. - 8 volumes in 4 in-8, 196 x 124, and an atlas in-4, 256 x 200: (2 ff.), lxxx, 327, (2 ff.), 347 pp.; (2 ff.), 447 pp, (2 ff.), 462 pp, (1 blank f.); (2 ff.), 374 pp, (1 blank f.), (2 ff.), 312 pp; (2 ff.), 336 pp, (2 ff.), 336 pp; 52 plates. Marbled calf, spine ribbed and decorated, red edges for the text volumes, and half marbled basane, spine ribbed and decorated, red edges for the atlas (contemporary bindings). - Voyage dans l'hémisphère austral, et autour du monde, fait sur les vaisseaux de roi l'Aventure & la Résolution, en 1772, 1773, 1774, & 1775... dans lequel on a inséré la relation du capitaine Furneaux, & celle de MM. Forster. Paris, Hôtel de Thou, 1778. - 6 volumes in-8, 192 x 122, and an atlas in-4, 253 x190 : (2 ff.), lij, 496 pp. ; (2 ff.), 516 pp. ; (2 ff.), 500 pp. ; (2 ff.), 499 pp. ; vij, 420 pp. ; viij, 367 pp. ; 66 plates. Marbled calf, spine ribbed and decorated, red edges for the text volumes, and half marbled basane, spine ribbed and decorated, red edges for the atlas (contemporary bindings). - Troisième Voyage..., ou Voyage à l'Océan Pacifique, ordonné par le roi d'Angleterre, pour faire des découvertes dans l'hémisphère nord, pour déterminer la position & l'étendue de la côte ouest de l'Amérique septentrionale, sa distance de l'Asie, & résoudre la question du passage au Nord. Paris, Hôtel de Thou, 1785. - 8 volumes in-8, 192 x 121 and an atlas in-4, 253 x 206 : (1 f.), cxcvj, 376 pp., (3 ff.) ; (2 ff.), 344 pp. ; (1 f.), 357 pp. ; (1 f.), 340 pp. ; (2 ff.), 371 pp. ; (2 ff.), 439 pp. ; (2 ff.), 468 pp. ; (1 f.), 304, 108 pp. 1 table ; 88 plates. Speckled tan basane, smooth spine decorated, speckled edges for the text volumes, and marbled half-basane, spine ribbed and decorated, red edges for the atlas (contemporary binding). - KIPPIS (Andrew). Life of Captain Cook, Translated from the English by Doctor Kippis, Member of the Royal Society of London. Paris: Hôtel de Thou; Lyon: Bernuset, 1789. - 2 volumes in-8, 197 x 123 : (2 ff.), xl, 387 pp. ; (2 ff.), 419 pp. Marbled basane, ornate spine, red edges (period binding).20 volumes in-8 and 3 atlases in-4.First French editions in in-8 format of the accounts of the three voyages of Captain James Cook, the first two translated by Suard and the third by Demeunier. James Cook was a renowned English navigator who made a major contribution to our knowledge of the Pacific. Thanks to his rigorous hydrographic surveys, he revealed the existence of a previously unknown oceanic hemisphere. During his first voyage (1768-1771), he discovered the archipelago of the Society Islands, New Zealand and the eastern coasts of Australia, putting an end to the myth of a hypothetical southern continent. In 1772, on his second voyage, he explored the Marquesas Islands, the New Hebrides and New Caledonia. His third voyage (1776-1779), aimed at finding a passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific via North America, took him as far as the Bering Strait. On his return to the Sandwich Islands, he was killed by the natives on 14 February 1779. His observations, which were unequalled in their accuracy and completeness, greatly enriched our knowledge of the regions he crossed. The first book brings together the accounts of the first four British circumnavigations, led by John Byron, Samuel Wallis, Philip Carteret and James Cook. These accounts were compiled by the English literary scholar John Hawkesworth, who was commissioned to produce an official summary after the proliferation of unauthorised publications. The last volume of the second voyage includes a vocabulary of the language of the Society Islands, astronomical observations by Wales and Bayly, and a discourse by Pringle on the health of sailors and the medical practices used during the expedition. The illustrations include 205 copper-engraved plates, many of which are fold-outs: maps, representations of flora and fauna, genre scenes, customs, antiquities, weapons, etc. These three volumes of atlases in-4° revealed for the first time to the West exotic types hitherto unknown. This copy is complete: it includes Cook's portrait, the plate commemorating his death and the large general map. Attached to this set is the first in-8 edition, published the same year as the original in-4, of the French translation of the first biography of James Cook, written by Andrew Kippis and translated by Jean-Henri Castéra. Spine slightly faded. Some spotting and tears to some headpieces, corners slightly dulled. The atlases are without their title page. Cut on the bottom of the first cover of the second volume of the last voyage. The third voyage is missing 3 false titles. Light marginal spotting in the book of Kippis. Private library label at the top of the spines.