Mirror of the Australian Navigation

Sydney: Hordern House, 1999. Folio, pp. 196, quarter goatskin over marbled boards, illustrated. Includes a 96-page exact facsimile of the rare original Dutch printing of 1622 and a 65-page exact facsimile of the original English text by Alexander Dalrymple of 1770. Introductory essay by Dr Edward Duyker, New South Wales History Fellow.  Edition strictly limited to 900 copies. Fifth publication in the Australian Maritime Series, winner of the prestigious 1991 Galley Club of Sydney Award for Excellence.

“It was nutmeg and pepper that drove the wealthy and powerful Dutch merchant Isaac Le Maire to try to break the VOC monopoly on trade routes to the East Indies, and inspired him to mount an expedition that would forge a new route to the lucrative spice sources via the southern-most tip of America, through uncharted and dangerous waters. Influenced by the famous voyage of Pedro Ferdinandos de Quiros, the Portuguese navigator who believed he had touched upon Terra Australis, the great southland, Le Maire set up The Australian Company (Australische of Zuid Compagnie). The expedition he mounted had a dual goal: to chart a new course to the Pacific and to find the great southern continent.” – the publisher