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• Auction House:
  Mossgreen
• Sale Name:
  The Denis Joachim Collection
• Sale Date:
  19 Jun 2016 ~ 2pm - Session 1: Lots 1 - 321
  20 Jun 2016 ~ 10am - Session 2: Lots 322 - 480
  20 Jun 2016 ~ 2pm - Session 3: Lot 481 - 688
  20 Jun 2016 ~ 6pm - Session 4: Lots 689 - 818
• Lot #:
  44
• Lot Description:
  Fleurieu, Charles Pierre Claret de. Discoveries of the French in 1768 and 1769, to the South-East of New Guinea
  with the subsequent visits to the same lands by English Navigators, who gave them new names. To which is prefixed, an Historical Abridgment of the Voyages and Discoveries of the Spaniards in the same seas. By M. * * *, Formerly a Captain in the French Navy. Translated from the French. Quarto, with 12 folding maps, uncut copy, bound with the half-title in the original boards (spine renewed), with the original printed label laid down. London, John Stockdale, 1791.
• Notes:
  First English edition of this outstanding work of hydrographical detection: the discovery of Mendaña’s lost islands. Jean François Marie de Surville, on his way south, past New Guinea, New Britain, and New Ireland, literally stumbled on a group of undiscovered islands. He spent some time cruising along the coast, landed his sick there, sought new supplies, and even kidnapped a young native boy. He came into conflict with the inhabitants and so named these islands the Arsacides (“Assassins”) as a warning to others. Although he clearly did not know it at the time, he had discovered the lost islands of Mendaña, the Solomons, that had puzzled geographers for two centuries. Although French hydrographers such as Buache de Neuville had argued the case some years earlier, it was only when the journal of Lieutenant Shortland was published in Governor Phillip’s account of the First Fleet voyage that the French were stirred into public activity. On his return voyage in the Alexander transport from Botany Bay to England, Shortland had passed along a group of islands which he named New Georgia. Fleurieu – a professional naval officer but at this time Minister of Marine under the Revolutionary government – denounced Shortland’s discovery and claimed the honour for de Surville, no proper account of whose voyage had been published. Fleurieu’s exercise in forensic hydrography draws on unpublished manuscript journals as well as the printed narratives of Mendaña, Quirós, Bougainville, Carteret, Cook, Phillip, and others. Writing of the voyage of de Surville, Dunmore remarks that “of far greater importance was the question of the Solomons, which had puzzled geographers since the days of Quirós. Carteret and Bougainville provided the first clues to the answer, but it was de Surville who brought back the conclusive evidence…”. Beddie, 1300-3; Davidson, pp. 94-5; Ferguson, 105; Hill 2, 611; Kroepelien, 437; Sabin, 24749; see also Dunmore, I, pp. 135 – 165.
• Estimate:
  A$3,000 - 5,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Books & Manuscripts

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.