Australian Rare Books 1606-1787 by Jonathan Wantrup
Now Available
We are pleased to announce the publication of Jonathan Wantrup’s new work, Australian Rare Books 1606 -1787.
Forming a prequel to his earlier two-volume Australian Rare Books 1788-1900, the author here examines the printed works telling the story of the discovery of Australia, as the Dutch and English mariners first identified parts of New Holland’s outline, and then completed the map of the entire continent. Wantrup provides detailed descriptions of these books, which should prove invaluable to collectors, curators, cataloguers, and booksellers.
It is also the story of two centuries of geo-political and trade forces that drove the search for Terra Australis Incognita and the uncovering of the Pacific, analysed in light of the publications of the Spanish, Dutch, French, and English exploring nations from the time they first venture into the Pacific around Cape Horn. Wantrup analyses both official and unofficial accounts of voyages,
while also providing a lively statement of the achievements of the scientists and mariners responsible for them.
Wantrup’s own career in the rare book trade, his role in guiding and advising collectors, his knowledge of bibliography, and his achievements as an author, mark this book as another unique contribution to the history of Australian discovery and its literature.
Price: $220 (includes GST) + postage/freight $25
Details: Published by Australian Book Auctions. Large octavo, 255 x 180 mm, 470 pages, 103 illustrations (17 in colour), twelve chapters, and two Checklists. Set in Adobe Garamond 11 / 13. Printed and bound in Australia on 100 gsm Sovereign Offset and bound in dark green buckram blocked in gilt, with colour pictorial dustwrapper.
Restricted to 220 copies for sale.