This is a handsomely produced facsimile of Alexander Dalrymple's compendium of voyages in the South Pacific, comprised of two volumes in one book. Volume I, originally published in 1770, is a translation of accounts of the Spanish and Portuguese voyages of Magellan, Juan Fernandez, Alvaro de Mendana y Neira, and Pedro Fernandes de Queiros. Volume II, originally published in 1771, focuses on the Dutch voyages of Jacob Le Maire and Willem Schouten, Abel Tasman, and Jacob Roggeveen. Alexander Dalrymple (1737-1808) was a Scottish hydrographer who explored the East Indies as an employee of the East India Company and became the first Hydrographer of the British Admiralty. He was a proponent of the theory of an undiscovered continent in the South Pacific, known as Terra Australis. The volume is #11 in Nico Israel and Da Capo Press' 75-volume Bibliotheca Australiana series. It is illustrated with 4 folding charts and 12 plates, all in black & white. Hardbound in simulated vellum featuring blue title plates on cover and spine with gilt lettering.

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Condition: B+

Contents are very good with short binding tears in the blank margins of the maps, minor marginal toning in the text, and light dampstaining on the last few pages and pastedown. Covers are lightly soiled with slightly bumped corners and a scratch on the front cover.