Voyages of William Dampier - Four Volumes with 42 Maps & Engravings

Voyages of William Dampier - Four Volumes with 42 Maps & Engravings
These four volumes with 42 maps and engravings encompass the Voyages of William Dampier. Included in the collection are:

A new Voyage round the World. Describing particularly, The Isthmus of America, several Coasts and Islands in the West Indies, the Isles of Cape Verd … New Holland, Sumatra, Nicobar Isles… The Fourth Edition Corrected. Fourth edition published 1699 with 5 engraved maps (world by Moll, Isthmus of Darien, Middle Part of America, East Indies, Bashee Isles, the first four folding).

Voyages and Descriptions Vol. II. In three parts, Viz. 1. A Supplement of the Voyage round the world… 2. Two voyages to Campeachy… 3. A Discourse of Trade-Winds, Breezes, Storms, Seasons of the Year, Tides and Currents of the Torrid Zone throughout the world… Second edition published 1700 with 4 engraved folding maps (Malacca, Campechy, South Seas, Atlantic).

A voyage to New Holland &c, in the year 1699... First edition published 1703 with folding engraved map and 14 plates.

A continuation of a voyage to New Holland, &c. in the year 1699... First edition published 1709 with large folding map & 17 engraved plates.

These were published in London by W. Botham for James Knapton and bound in contemporary paneled calf with Morocco labels. The fourth volume is in similar but not uniform binding.

The first volume recounts Dampier's voyage from South America across the Pacific to the East Indies and the first landing of an Englishman on Australian soil. The second volume contains supplementary material relating to his circumnavigation. The third and fourth volumes describe Dampier's surveys of New Holland, or Australia, aboard the Roebuck, commissioned by the Admiralty, concluding that it was not yet determined whether Australia was an island or a continent. These volumes also contain material on the East Indies and South America.

William Dampier (1651-1715) was born in England and was orphaned. He set out in 1679 and took to the seas as a pirate and sea captain before returning in 1691. He is noted as the first man to circumnavigate the world three times. He was also the first Englishman to explore parts of New Holland (Australia) and New Guinea. He's believed to have been the first Englishman to step on the Australian mainland.

"William Dampier combined a swashbuckling life of adventure with pioneering scientific achievements. In 1676, he started his career as a buccaneer preying on ships on the Spanish Main and struggling through the impenetrable jungle of the Isthmus of Panama in search of gold. He could easily have ended up on the gallows. Poor and obscure yet determined to sail the world to make his fortune, he was to become the first person to circumnavigate the globe three times. Among his many extraordinary achievements, Dampier mapped the winds and the currents of the world’s oceans for the first time. He inspired Darwin one hundred and fifty years later with his notes on the wildlife of the Galapagos islands and elsewhere. His portrait in London’s National Portrait Gallery shows a lean, strong-featured man with a thoughtful expression, brown shoulder-length hair and a plain coat, holding a book in his hand. He is styled ‘Pirate and Hydrographer’ but even that tells only part of his story. He was a pioneering navigator, naturalist, travel writer and explorer, as well as hydrographer who was, indeed, quite happy to seek his fortune as a pirate." (Preston)


Paper Size: ~ 4 3/4" by 7 1/2"


Paper Type or Special Features: Four Volumes with 42 Maps & Engravings

The work is in very good to excellent condition overall. There may be some handling or wear especially to fold out plates. All maps & plates with good margins. There is some wear to extremities and joints but sound. There may be a few minor marks or imperfections to be expected with age. Please review the image carefully for condition and contact us with any questions.