The Narrative of the Honourable John Byron

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“The Narrative of the Honourable John Byron (Commodore in a Late Expedition Round the World) Containing an Account of the Great Distresses Suffered by Himself and His companions on the Coast of Patagonia, From the Year 1740, till their Arrival in England, 1746. With a description of St. Jago de Chili, and the Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants. Also a Relation of the Loss of the Wager Man of War, One of Admiral Anson’s Squadron” London: S. Baker and G. Leigh, 1768.

Illustrated with engraved frontis and half title.[iv], viii, 257 pp. 8vo, rebound in half leather and marbled boards with new endpapers. First edition.Cox II p. 281, Sabin 9730.
John “Foulweather Jack” Byron sailed to South America on HMS Wager, part of George Anson’s squadron. Upon approaching Patagonia the Wager encountered a terrible storm and the crew was shipwrecked. The survivors divided into two teams and proposed that one team would head toward Rio de Janeiro via the Straights of Magellan and the other one led by Byron to sail north up the Chilean coast in open boats to meet the Spaniards. Sabin notes “Admiral Byron’s narrative of the loss of the Wager is one of the most thrilling accounts in the language , and supplied his illustrious descendant with many particulars for the shipwreck in ‘Don Juan'”. Miraculously he lived to tell the tale, and later went on to assume the position of Governor of Newfoundland.

Stock No: 1288