Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE

Description: "This account was privately printed for subscription, and is one of the rarest of Pacific voyage narratives. It offers a full description of Colnett's second Pacific voyage in the Rattler, during which he opened up the South Pacific sperm-whale fields and made two visits to the Galapagos islands. He describes the voyage out via Rio de Janeiro, around Cape Horn, along the coasts of South America and Mexico, and into the Gulf of California. He did not stop at Hawaii on this visit, though the lengthy preface contains references to his first voyage, on which he made an extended stay in Hawaiian waters during the winter of 1787-1788. Colnett's ship, Rattler, a Royal Navy sloop, was purchased from the Admiralty and altered to serve as a whaler. The voyage lasted from January 1793 until October 1794. In addition to the informative and lively text, this work is remarkable for the quality of the maps and plates. The folding plate within the text shows a diagram of a sperm whale, complete with scale and labelled segments, the two folding plates at the back show coastal profiles of six different locations. The large folding maps show the islands of Felix and Ambrose (on one map), the Pacific Coast of the Americas as far as California (one map), and individual maps of the islands of Revillagigedo, Cocos, the Galapagos, and Quibo.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: "This account was privately printed for subscription, and is one of the rarest of Pacific voyage narratives. It offers a full description of Colnett's second Pacific voyage in…

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE

Description: When William Bligh returned to England in 1790 and news of the mutiny aboard the Bounty finally became known, the Admiralty immediately fitted out the frigate Pandora, Capt. Edward Edwards commanding, to apprehend the mutineers. This account of that voyage is by the ship's surgeon George Hamilton. It is the only full contemporary published account, as Edwards wrote no complete account of the voyage. In Tahiti, Edwards arrested fourteen mutineers and caged them on Pandora's quarterdeck while he sailed from Tonga to New Guinea in search of the remaining mutineers. It is now believed that when passing through the Santa Cruz Group he failed to recognize a distress signal from the survivors of La PΘrouse's expedition. He made a number of discoveries including Rotuma and determined the best route to Botany Bay, but he failed to locate Pitcairn Island although he had sailed close to it on his outward passage. While surveying Endeavour Strait in the Great Barrier Reef, the Pandora was wrecked and captain and crew took to the ship's boats with the ten surviving mutineers who had been released from their cages, not by Captain Edwards but by the master-at-arms. After a 1,100-mile voyage in open boats through the Torres Straits they landed at Timor where Bligh himself had landed after being cast off from the Bounty. A ship was arranged for them by the Dutch to carry the mutineers to England where all were tried and three were hanged. Bell H24; Ferguson 151; Hill 766; Kroepelien 507; Sabin 30011.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: When William Bligh returned to England in 1790 and news of the mutiny aboard the Bounty finally became known, the Admiralty immediately fitted out the frigate Pandora, Capt.…

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE

Description: The first English biography of Cook. It provides a complete life of the navigator from birth to death including an account of Cook's duties while aboard the Mercury on the St Lawrence River during the siege of Quebec. The Newfoundland and Labrador surveys are discussed, and the three voyages are dealt with in great depth. The book includes most of Samwell's account of Cook's death, as well as various tributes to Cook.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: The first English biography of Cook. It provides a complete life of the navigator from birth to death including an account of Cook's duties while aboard the Mercury on the St…

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE

Description: A complete copy of this huge compendium of Cook's three voyages (and accounts of a few other voyages: Byron, Wallis, Carteret, Anson and Drake), published quickly after publication of the official accounts of the Cook voyages.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: A complete copy of this huge compendium of Cook's three voyages (and accounts of a few other voyages: Byron, Wallis, Carteret, Anson and Drake), published quickly after…

Description: Massive compilation of Cook's three voyages, in addition to those of Byron, Wallis, Carteret, Mulgrave, Anson, and Drake. Hill calls the work "An important compilation of English voyages richly illustrated with 157 engraved maps and plates," and while only 156 are present in this copy, there seems to have been some variation from copy to copy. The copperplates are recut or restruck from the original accounts, and contain many of the most famous "first views" of the south sea islanders, northwest coast of America, etc., as well as important maps and profiles of newly charted regions. The plate of Cook's death is present. The missing plate is number 42 "The Genius of the Work instructing the Youth in conduct of Circumnavigators" meant to be present on page 336. Hill pp. 6-7.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: Massive compilation of Cook's three voyages, in addition to those of Byron, Wallis, Carteret, Mulgrave, Anson, and Drake. Hill calls the work "An important compilation of…

Description: "This is the story of an ordinary Frenchwoman of extraordinary courage and determination, who braved everything in order to stay at her lover-master's side - even the perils of life aboard an 18th century French navy ship. John Dunmore, a world authority on French naval history, relates with humour and compassion the life of a small-town girl who became the first woman of any race to circumnavigate the globe."--Back cover.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: "This is the story of an ordinary Frenchwoman of extraordinary courage and determination, who braved everything in order to stay at her lover-master's side - even the perils…

Description: first unabridged translation into english (preceded by two editions of 1798, both ôabridged in some particular or otherö), accompanied by an atlas with the full complement of maps and plates. This edition is therefore ôusually considered to be the best one in English . . . now an extremely rare workö (Hill). The atlas volume contains magnificent maps of Russian Asia, Japan, the Pacific north-west coast, San Francisco, Monterey, and also Necker Island. Ferguson 288; Forbes 311; Hill 975; Howes L93; Sabin 38962; Wickersham 6612a.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: first unabridged translation into english (preceded by two editions of 1798, both ôabridged in some particular or otherö), accompanied by an atlas with the full complement of…

Description: The first complete account of the Le Maire-Schouten expedition around the world, the first to successfully round Cape Horn, and the first edition in Latin, expanding significantly the Madrid edition of 1601. The first two parts of the book concentrate on the New World and include fine maps of Central and South America, with those on the Pacific coast adding a great deal of new geographical knowledge. Of primary importance, however, is the second part containing the description of the great Dutch navigator Jacob Le Maire's 1615-1617 voyage in search of Terra Australis. Le Maire's rounding of Patagonia via Cape Horn impacted navigation in many ways, but principally by dispelling the idea of an imaginary Southland. Michel Colin issued simultaneous Latin, French and Dutch editions of this work, adding three maps not in the 1601 Spanish edition. Copies are known with a portrait of Le Maire, but this is not called for in the list of plates. In addition, the small map on the title-page is noteworthy for being the first cartographic depiction of California as an island. The suite of maps form an early (fourth) atlas of the Americas, principally focused on the Spanish orbit, issued as an encouragement just as the Dutch focus on the Western Hemisphere turned to settlement.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: The first complete account of the Le Maire-Schouten expedition around the world, the first to successfully round Cape Horn, and the first edition in Latin, expanding…

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE

Description: account of the voyage of the Dolphin, which left Plymouth in July 1764 to travel and explore the South Seas. This Admiralty circumnavigation was ostensibly for the East Indies but its true object was discovery in the South Seas with instruction to Byron, its commander, to further investigate New Albion on the northwest American coast. The voyage proved to be relatively uneventful, and the Dolphin, which was the first Royal Naval vessel to be sheathed in copper, returned to England in May 1766. This work is generally credited to the ship's officer Charles Clerke, and precedes the official Admiralty account of 1773 as edited by John Hawkesworth. Borba de Moraes I:138; Hill, p.310; Sabin 9732; Spence 237.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: account of the voyage of the Dolphin, which left Plymouth in July 1764 to travel and explore the South Seas. This Admiralty circumnavigation was ostensibly for the East Indies…

Description: Vancouver was put in command of the expedition on the recommendation of his old commanding officer Alan Gardner. He had served earlier with both Admiral Rodney and on James Cook's second and third voyages, so was well equipped in terms of experience, in addition he was a first class navigator. The voyage was mounted as a "grand-scale expedition to reclaim Britain's rights, resulting from the Nootka Convention, at Nootka Sound, to thoroughly examine the coast south of 60? in order to find a possible passage to the Atlantic; and to learn what establishments had been founded by other powers. This voyage became one of the most important ever made in the interests of geographical knowledge. Vancouver sailed by way of the Cape of Good Hope to Australia, where he discovered King George's Sound and Cape Hood, then to New Zealand, Hawaii, and the northwest coast of America. In three seasons' work Vancouver surveyed the coast of California; visited San Francisco and San Diego. and other Spanish settlements in Alta California; settled the necessary formalities with the Spanish at Nootka; investigated the Strait of Juan de Fuca; discovered the Strait of Georgia; circumnavigated Vancouver Island; and disproved the existence of any passage between the Pacific and Hudson Bay."-Hill. Vancouver sailed with Cook on all three voyages. On the second voyage he climbed out on the bowsprit just as the ship was turned at its southern point so he could boast throughout his life he had been further south than any other person. He was known as a hard but fair task master making the men row to the end of every fjord along the British Columbia Coast thus resulting in maps so accurate that they were used into the 20th century. At the end of the voyage he was so exhausted he had to ask his brother for assistance in editing the journals and died before the task was done.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: Vancouver was put in command of the expedition on the recommendation of his old commanding officer Alan Gardner. He had served earlier with both Admiral Rodney and on James…

Description: In January 1788, two and a half years after their departure from France, La P┌rouse's ships sailed into Botany Bay just hours after the settlers under Governor Phillip began the move from Botany Bay to Port Jackson. After their subsequent departure from the Australian east coast they 'vanished trackless into blue immensity' (Carlyle); no further trace would be found of the expedition for three decades. La P┌rouse's habit of forwarding records whenever he had an opportunity to do so ensured their survival. The first portion of the expedition's records had been forwarded by sea from Macao; the second (Macao to Kamchatka) went overland with de Lesseps, and the final reports went back with British despatches from Botany Bay, the British extending what was then a normal courtesy between the exploring nations. It was from these records that Milet-Mureau, the editor, established the official narrative of the expedition for its publication in this form.

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: In January 1788, two and a half years after their departure from France, La P┌rouse's ships sailed into Botany Bay just hours after the settlers under Governor Phillip began…

Description: his privately-funded privateering voyage sought to duplicate the success of Woodes Rogers' highly profitable voyage of 1708-1711. Shelvocke commanded the Speedwell and John Clipperton the Success on raids against Spanish shipping on the west coast of South America. Shelvocke soon slipped away to conduct his own raids in Peru and to sail up the coast to Cabo San Lucas where he remained for some months and wrote one of the earliest descriptions of the Indians of Baja California. He also was one of the first to suggest the possibility of finding gold in California. Controversies surrounding the voyage began with his unjustified attack on a Portuguese merchantman, desertions and mutiny. It was while rounding Cape Horn that one of his crew shot an albatross, reported here and later read by William Wordsworth who surely relayed it to Coleridge. It became an inspiration for his Rime of the Ancient Mariner. After a quick crossing of the Pacific to Guam and Canton where Speedwell was sold, Shelvocke seems to have awarded himself more than double his share of the plunder. His return to England brought charges of piracy and embezzlement, and the publication of his account in 1726 brought charges of libel from his shipmate William Betagh who duly published his own account and rebuttal in 1728.--Christie's

Collection: DOCUMENTARY HERITAGEDescription: his privately-funded privateering voyage sought to duplicate the success of Woodes Rogers' highly profitable voyage of 1708-1711. Shelvocke commanded the Speedwell and John…