[TRAVEL & EXPLORATION]. ANSON, George (1697-1762). A Voyage round the World, In the Years 1740... 1744. London: John and Paul Knapton for the author, 1748. 4to (255 x 198 mm). 42 engraved folding plates and maps. (Lacking leaf (b)2, 2pp. of list of subscribers torn across with old repairs, a few other leaves with tears to folds occasionally repaired, some minor staining, "Directions to Binder" leaf remargined.) Contemporary marbled calf gilt, edges stained yellow (rebacked to style, endpapers renewed). FIRST EDITION of the official account of one of the landmark 18th-century circumnavigations, rare issue with the plates bound separately at a contemporary date. "This compilation has long occupied a distinguished position as a masterpiece of descriptive travel. Anson's voyage appears to have been the most popular book of maritime adventure of the eighteenth century" (Hill). Bibliographies call for 42 maps and plates, but this copy has 43 including the general route map in the text volumes. Both the National Maritime Museum copy and the Hill copy have 17 preliminary pages, whereas this copy has 33 pages to include the List of Subscribers. Borba de Moraes, p. 38; Cox Vol. I, p. 49; ESTC T89475; Hill, pp. 317-18; Sabin 1625.