Viage del Comandante Byron al Rededor del Mundo . . . En el Qual se da Noticia de Varios Paises de la Costumbres de sus Habitantes, de las Plantas, y Animales estraños que se crian en ellos: juntamente con una descripcion muy circunstanciada del Estrecho de Magallanes, y de cierta Nacion de Gigantes, llamados Patagones . . . [with map:] Mapa Maritimo del Estrecho de Magallanes

John Byron / Casimiro Gómez de Ortega / Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla / Ferdinand Magellan

Published by John Byron / Casimiro Gómez de Ortega / Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla / Ferdinand Magellan, 1769

About this Item

With a Fine Map of the Strait of Magellan Not in Earlier EditionsA famous 18th-century voyage of discovery to the Pacific and expedition to establish a British foothold in the South Atlantic Ocea. Small quarto. Contemporary vellum. Manuscript title on spine. [16],176,[12],55 pages. With additional title page for the Magellan/Cano account. Engraved frontispiece plus folding engraved map with original outline hand color. Map with archivally repaired tears at folds with tiny dime-sized loss at intersection of folds (no major loss to printed area) and couple of additional minimal paper losses affecting left side of decorative frame of cartouche. With a Fine Map of the Strait of Magellan Not in Earlier EditionsA famous 18th-century voyage of discovery to the Pacific and expedition to establish a British foothold in the South Atlantic Ocean. The Spanish edition is the first to include a fine map of the Strait of Magellan by Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla. The English edition, issued with the title: A Voyage Round the World in His Majesty's Ship The Dolphin (1767), did not have a map. The translation is by Casimiro G mez de Ortega, a botanist with the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid who identified plant species collected during Spanish expeditions to the Americas in the 18th century. The present example is styled the second edition, issued the same year as the first Spanish edition, with the additional 55-page account of Magellan's voyage which appears herein for the first time: Resumen Historico del Viage emprendido por Magallanes, y concluido por el Capitan Espa ol Juan Sebastian del Cano. In July 1764, HMS Dolphin, commanded by Captain John Byron, departed Plymouth accompanied by a transport vessel, the Tamar. After a brief stop at Rio de Janeiro, where Byron met with Lord Clive, the expedition continued southward. Only after leaving Rio did Byron disclose the true purpose of the voyage to his crew: an exploration of the Pacific Ocean, aimed at expanding British naval and geographic knowledge. The Dolphin successfully navigated the Strait of Magellan without significant incident, a notable achievement given the notorious dangers of the passage. Once in the Pacific, Byron charted a number of previously unrecorded islands and coral reefs, contributing important new discoveries to British maritime exploration during the mid-18th century. Byron was shipwrecked near Chilo and spent three years as a prisoner of the Spanish in Chile, until he escaped in 1744 and returned home.It was on this voyage that Byron claimed the Falkland Islands for Britain. Notably, Britain was unaware at the time that France had already established a settlement in 1764 at Port Louis on East Falkland, under the leadership of Louis Antoine de Bougainville. France would later cede its claim to Spain in 1767. Byron s claim initiated a complex series of overlapping claims among Britain, France, and Spain, ultimately leading to increasing tension and eventually Britain's formal re-establishment of a settlement in 1766 at Port Egmont.The frontispiece plate shows the Patagonian giants that Byron reported seeing.This account of the voyage became famous because of its description of the Patagonian giants. These giants were first observed by the crew of the Magellan's fleet, and other authors refer to them but, as the travellers of the nineteenth century were unable to encounter them, their existence came to be considered a fable or an optical illusion. What impresses the reader of Byron's book, however, is the tone of veracity in the description of these very tall men whom the crew observed at close range, and with whome they had some contact - Borba de Moraes.Strait of Magellan MapThis handsome map, whose title translates as "Maritime Map of the Strait of Mag.

Seller Inventory # 113676

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Viage del Comandante Byron al Rededor del Mundo . . . En el Qual se da Noticia de Varios Paises de la Costumbres de sus Habitantes, de las Plantas, y Animales estraños que se crian en ellos: juntamente con una descripcion muy circunstanciada del Estrecho de Magallanes, y de cierta Nacion de Gigantes, llamados Patagones . . . [with map:] Mapa Maritimo del Estrecho de Magallanes
• Publisher: John Byron / Casimiro Gómez de Ortega / Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla / Ferdinand Magellan
• Publication Date: 1769
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: vg
• Book Type: Book
• Seller catalogs:
  • Antique Maps