Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - December - 2008 Issue
Special Books from Australia, the South Seas, and More from Hordern House
Rare view from the Beagle; Gonneville book.
James Cook is probably the most noted of the Australian explorers, though his three voyages took him well beyond that continent, as far away as Alaska. His discoveries were far too numerous to mention, but perhaps the most significant was his disproving the long held belief in the existence of the aforementioned massive southern continent. Item 9 is a complete set of the first Irish edition of the official account of his voyages, seven volumes with dates of 1775, 1775, and 1784. AU $21,000 (US $13,600).
Item 3 is another complete set of voyages, one that eventually provided one of the most important scientific discoveries ever. This is the four-volume (including the appendix to volume 3) report on the voyage of the Beagle. The set is titled Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle Between the Years 1826 and 1831... The first voyage by the two ships ran from 1826-1830 and the second, by just the Beagle, from 1831-1836. The second included a circumnavigation of the globe, which brought the ship to Australia. However, it was time spent around South America that proved to be momentous for science. That was when young naturalist Charles Darwin began examining the natural history of the area. His observations would lead to the later development of his theory of natural selection, or evolution. The first two volumes are narratives by Robert Fitzroy, who captained the second voyage and whose great interest in scientific discovery led him to select Darwin as naturalist. The third volume is Darwin's account of his discoveries. AU $68,000 (US $44,044).
Item 4 is a very rare, pre-Darwin Beagle item: View of the Strait of Magellan, &c. This series of lithographic views was produced by the British Hydrographic Office in 1831 in evidently a very limited quantity. It includes 42 lithographs of views from the first voyage of the Adventure and Beagle. Most of the drawings were created by W.W. Wilson, a mate on the Adventure, though several others contributed to the portfolio. Hordern House notes that this work was not "published" in the standard use of the term, and that they have found it mentioned in no bibliographies. It was likely produced by the Hydrographic Office for internal use only. AU $48,000 (US $31,090).
Hordern House may be reached at +61 (0) 2 9356 4411 or rare@hordern.com. Their website is found at www.hordern.com.
