The discovery of the mainland of New Guinea : Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón or Íñigo Ortiz de Retes?

/ by J. W. Forsyth. (Copy by G. C. I.). Manuscript in fountain pen, 67 pp., foolscap folio, written recto only on faint-ruled paper; with a page of prefatory notes by Geoffrey C. Ingleton, headed ‘Forsyth’s Paper’; complete and very well preserved; housed a custom clamshell box.

‘John Forsyth, a solicitor by profession, was an amateur historian interested in navigation and cartography. He was also a Trustee of the Public Library of New South Wales.’ (Encyclopaedia of Australian Science)

In 1960, renowned maritime historian and bibliophile Geoffrey C. Ingleton took it upon himself to painstakingly copy out in full Forsyth’s draft for a paper on the discovery of New Guinea. This manuscript version is very possibly the only extant copy of Forsyth’s essay (unless Forsyth’s original draft forms part of John Walter Forsyth papers and card indexes, ca. 1948-1963 in the SLNSW – see below). 

In his somewhat sardonic prefatory notes, Ingleton writes:

‘In 1955, I read this paper and wrote some extracts, and in 1960, Forsyth again lent it to me, and this time I copied it out in full. Although extremely long-winded, and written in a style that makes it almost unpublishable, the paper contains useful material. I do not think it will ever be published now, as Forsyth’s health will not allow him to make drastic revisions and deletions to put it in a form which would be acceptable to any learned journal. For that reason I thought a copy would be a useful asset, and although I cursed the text heartily, I persevered with the job. Forsyth’s writing is hard to understand at times, and no doubt there are mistakes in my copying, especially of surnames and these require checking. In some of the footnotes there are omissions in the references, and these Forsyth had not filled in in his manuscript.’

The SLNSW holds in its collection John Walter Forsyth papers and card indexes, ca. 1948-1963, the catalogue entry for which reads: ‘Collection consists of research material and indexes to it (22 boxes) and of manuscript notes or photocopies of documents, notes, correspondence etc. These are principally concerned with early navigators, their ships, the Dutch East India Company, maps, the early history of Sydney, maps, Arab navigation. Mention is made of Prof. Manning Clark, Prof. Ernest Scott and Prof. G.A. Wood. Correspondence (2 boxes) includes letters received and copies by Forsyth to institutions and individuals.’