Cordova, Don A. de: [i.e. Vargas y Ponce, José de]:

$150 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY TO THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN: WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE INHABITANTS; AND OF THE NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF ... An English translation, published in London, of Vargas y Ponce's Relacion del Último Viage al Estrecho de Magellanes de la Fragata de S.M. Santa María de la Cabeza en los Años de 1785 y 1786, published at Madrid in 1788. As Hill notes in an entry for the 1788 Madrid edition, the voyages described here "were made in order to ascertain the advisability of Spanish ships continuing to use the passage of the Strait of Magellan in voyages to the Pacific. Both expeditions, under the command of Captain Antonio de Córdoba y Laso, indicated a negative response. The work was compiled from the journals of Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Alejandro Belmonte, two of Captain Córdoba y Laso's lieutenants. After these expeditions, the Spanish trade routes were exclusively to east coast ports and then overland to Pacific ports." The titlepage mistakenly identifies Córdoba as the author, but Hill, Medina, and others attribute authorship to Spanish sailor, politician, and scholar José de Vargas y Ponce (1760-1821). The text features a folding map of "Cordova's Voyage," published January 15, 1820, by R. Phillips & Co. and executed by Neele & Son, engravers. The map shows the Strait of Magellan bounded by the South American mainland to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. Also included is the frontispiece portrait of Magellan. Of particular note i

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