COOK (James). Voyage dans l'hémisphère austral et autour du monde, fait sur les vaisseaux du roi L'Aventure et La Résolution, en 1772-1775. Paris, Hôtel de Thou [Panckoucke], 1778. 5 volumes in-4, marbled calf, triple fillet, spine decorated, red edges (period binding). First French edition of Cook's second voyage, translated by Suard. The fifth volume contains the account of the expedition by J. R. Forster. The illustrations include a portrait of the navigator and 66 plates, maps and out-of-text views, most of them folding. It was during this exploration of the Antarctic zone, from which he approached the continent without seeing it, that Cook discovered South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, before returning to Tahiti to replenish his supplies. He then headed back south in the hope, ultimately disappointed, of landing on the mythical Terra Australis. The return journey took him to Tonga, Easter Island and Norfolk, New Caledonia and the New Hebrides. A very fine copy.