Travel & Voyages

Polynesian Navigation – A Symposium on Andrew Sharp’s Thoery of Accidental Voyages – Edited by Jack Golson

Andrew Sharpe certainly stirred up the debate as to hoe the Pacific Islands may have been settled.

A symposium in the 1960’s brought together some pretty good minds on the subject.

Published by the Polynesian Society, Wellington, New Zealand in 1963. Being Memoir No 34, a Supplement to the Journal of the Society. Softcover, octavo, 153 pages plus bibliography. Three useful maps, two of which are folding. A little age, still a very good copy.

Cartographic expert, Thomas M Perry’s copy with his discrete stamp top of front cover.

The body of the work review the “Accidental Voyage Theory”’ – Parsonson; Primitive Navigation – Captain Hayen and Captain Hilder; Sailing Characteristics of Oceanic Canoes – Bechton; The Geographical Knowledge of the Polynesians and the Nature of Inter-Island Contact – Dening; Geographical Knowledge of Tahitian etc etc

The Pacific Solved – Maybe

$35.00

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Robert O’Hara Burke and the Australian Exploring Expedition – Andrew Jackson 1860

Scarce first edition of this essential Burke and Wills book published by Smith and Elder in 1862.

Octavo, xxi, 229 pages with woodcut portrait of Burke and folding map, extensive Publishers Catalogue at the rear. Original green cloth covered binding, some internal foxing particularly the map and adjacent pages as usual. Very good original embossed green cloth covered binding, gilt title to spine bright and fresh. Unusual for a usually distressed book.

Andrew Jackson may have known Burke personally, he was certainly an acquaintance of Burke’s father, they were officers in the same Regiment. The first chapter give an interesting account of the family military history and background on Robert O’Hara Burke.

Written from papers, journals, letters, reports, interviews etc associated with the expedition. Nicely written carefully compiled.

An important “companion work” to the Bentley published book based on Wills’s journal and letters.

Scarce Burke and Wills contemporary reference

$690.00

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Lure of the Southern Seas – The Voyages of Dumont D’Urville 1826-1840

Large perfect bound soft cover (30cm x 24cm) a good size for showing off the many illustrations from artwork created at the time and photographs of displays from the voyage collection held in France.

Published by the Historic Housed Trust of NSW in association of a exhibition held at the Sydney Museum in 2003.

Well researched and produced making an important contribution to works on the two voyages undertaken by Dumont D’Urvillle in the first half of the 19th Century.

Following and introductory chapter “Southern Discomfort” and excellent map, we gain an understanding of the man and what drove him. His voyage towards the Polar Ice; the Anthropology and “Harvest of Curiosities” and the more defined Natural History Catalogue. Some notes on the artists without whom the wonder could not have been so well revealed. Data back up in the form of routes and statistics of the Voyage are followed by the great man’s correspondence and of all things “his will” … references, bibliography.

Dumont D’Urville well presented historical account, some new information and special images.

$35.00

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The Voyage of HMS Galatea – Visit to Australia – Prince Alfred – 1867

Medal commemorating the Australian visit of the then Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Alfred, to Australia.

Created and cast by Thomas Stokes of Melbourne. There are two slightly different forms, with differing decorative borders.

On the obverse the Duke’s bust in naval dress uniform with Ribbon and Star of the Garter. Legend HRH Duke of Edinburgh. Surrounded by an ornamental border. Reverse with a starboard broadside view of the “Galatea” under steam and sail, the top gallant sails in the act of being taken in. Legend … to Commemorate the Visit of HRH Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh KG to Australia – HMS Galatea 1867.

See the Greenwich National Maritime museum for an example – reference MEC1362.

47mm in diameter, 40 gm white metal. Holed for a loop as usual, a couple of scratches, negligible edge bumps, a pretty good example.

HMS Galatea circumnavigated the World and spent six months in Australia. During his stay the Prince was subject to an assassination attempt by an Irishman – he was shot but the bullet actually glanced off his ribs and he survived.

Historical Maritime Medal – HMS Galatea in Australia 1867.

$125.00

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A History of Antarctica – Stephen Martin

First Edition published by the State Library of N.S.W. in 1996. A substantial and well produced book. Small quarto, 272 pages nicely illustrated throughout.

Comprehensive so sort of a modern day Mills if you know the work. We particularly like the early period before the Heroic Era. Not because the latter is boring quite the opposite … juts that it is covered well in a number of place. the early stuff not so much.

Post Heroic is also well covered right up to and around the Treaty. It could all be up for grabs soon … that will be interesting. Lots of doublespeak we guess.

Antarctica – nice full, readable, smashing illustrations.

$35.00

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Antarctica and Back in Sixty Days – Tim Bowden – Double Audio Cassette

We love this sort of fairly recent ephemeral curiosity. Audio cassettes so common and used by many in the 1970’s and 1980’s and died an almighty death with the advent of the DVD. If you still have a tape player then you are the target customer for this item.

Tom Bodwen went off to the Antarctic and he took his tape recorder with him. He did a few of these and this one is our favourite. A good length, two tapes, and in good playing condition. Still housed in its protective box

A good one to relax to when you need a break from the heavy exploration classics.

Tim Bowden a super Polar entertainment.

$30.00

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Polynesian Navigation – A Symposium on Andrew Sharp’s Thoery of Accidental Voyages – Edited by Jack Golson

Robert O’Hara Burke and the Australian Exploring Expedition – Andrew Jackson 1860

Lure of the Southern Seas – The Voyages of Dumont D’Urville 1826-1840

The Voyage of HMS Galatea – Visit to Australia – Prince Alfred – 1867

A History of Antarctica – Stephen Martin

Antarctica and Back in Sixty Days – Tim Bowden – Double Audio Cassette

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