NARBROUGH, John, Sir, and others. An Account of Several Late Voyages & Discoveries to the South and North. London, 1694.
8vo (191 x 113 mm). 2 engraved folding maps, folding table, 19 engraved plates (7 folding). Contemporary panelled calf gilt (cello tape repair to lower hinge); modern quarter morocco slipcase. [Laid in:] Clipped signature of Thomas Pennant, author of Arctic Zoology.FIRST EDITION, describing four voyages: Narbrough, to the South Seas; Tasman, to the "South Terra Incognita"; Wood, in search of a northeast passage to Japan and China; and Martens, to Greenland and the Arctic. This work is of "the greatest importance to an Australian collection, as it contains one of the earliest accounts of Abel Janszoon Tasman's famous voyage of 1642 from Batavia, in which he discovered Tasmania and New Zealand and visited Tonga and Fiji[it is of] particular interest because of its description of Narborough's passage in the Batchelour through the Straits of Magellan and into the South Pacific to Chile, which was much read by later navigators. John Bulkeley and John Cummins with the Wager survivors used this work for their navigation of the passage." Alden & Landis 694/155; ESTC R18669; Hill 1475; Sabin 72185; Wing N-154.
Provenance: Robert Byerley (1660-1714), English soldier and politician, owner of one of the founding stallions of the modern Thoroughbred racing stock (Goldsborough Hall armorial bookplate); early owner's annotations on front flyleaf.
