Details
DALRYMPLE, Alexander (1737-1808). An Historical Collection of the Several Voyages and Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean. London: Printed for the Author and sold by J. Nourse and T. Payne, 1770-71.
2 volumes in one, 4o (280 x 220 mm). Half-titles. 4 engraved folding maps and 12 plates (4 folding). (A few short tears, Y1 with repaired tear.) Contemporary boards, uncut (rebacked). Provenance: Thomas Postlethwaite (ownership inscription, dated Feb. 1811); Hugh Craggs (bookplate).
FIRST EDITION, second issue, with the title and dedication dated 1770. "This important collection of voyages was compiled by Dalrymple while admiralty hydrographer. The first volume contains translations from Spanish voyages beginning with Ferdinand Magellan in 1519 and ending with Pedro Fernandes de Quirós in 1606. Included is the account of Adelantado Alvaro Mendana de Neyra's voyage to the Solomon Islands. Volume two consists of the Dutch voyages of William Schoten and Jacob Le Maire, Abel Tasman, and Jacob Roggeveen. Dalrymple was the first critical editor of discoveries in Australasia and Polynesia. This work was published to strengthen his claim of the existence of a southern continent, which was finally dispelled by Cook's second voyage. An avid mercantilist, Dalrymple theorized that the unexploited lands of the South Pacific would serve to augment England's expanding trade" (Hill 410). Brunet II:474; Sabin 18338.
2 volumes in one, 4o (280 x 220 mm). Half-titles. 4 engraved folding maps and 12 plates (4 folding). (A few short tears, Y1 with repaired tear.) Contemporary boards, uncut (rebacked). Provenance: Thomas Postlethwaite (ownership inscription, dated Feb. 1811); Hugh Craggs (bookplate).
FIRST EDITION, second issue, with the title and dedication dated 1770. "This important collection of voyages was compiled by Dalrymple while admiralty hydrographer. The first volume contains translations from Spanish voyages beginning with Ferdinand Magellan in 1519 and ending with Pedro Fernandes de Quirós in 1606. Included is the account of Adelantado Alvaro Mendana de Neyra's voyage to the Solomon Islands. Volume two consists of the Dutch voyages of William Schoten and Jacob Le Maire, Abel Tasman, and Jacob Roggeveen. Dalrymple was the first critical editor of discoveries in Australasia and Polynesia. This work was published to strengthen his claim of the existence of a southern continent, which was finally dispelled by Cook's second voyage. An avid mercantilist, Dalrymple theorized that the unexploited lands of the South Pacific would serve to augment England's expanding trade" (Hill 410). Brunet II:474; Sabin 18338.
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