BERETNING OM CORVETTEN GALATHEA'S REISE OMKRING JORDEN 1845, 46 OG 47.
Bille, Steen:
Copenhagen: C.A. Reitzel: 1849-51. Three volumes. [4],xii,495,[1]pp. including half title, plus six plates and two folding maps; [4]viii,465,[3]pp. including half title, plus eight plates and two folding maps; [4],513,lxvii,[2]pp. including half title, plus six plates, one folding map, and one facsimile. 19th-century three quarter calf, spine stamped in blind and gilt. Joints slightly worn. Later ownership inscription of F. Nielsen on front pastedown of first and second volumes. A few short, light annotations in pencil in text and below inscriptions on plates in first volume. Scattered light foxing and tanning in text, on maps, and in margins of plates. A very good copy. The first edition of the official account of the first Danish circumnavigation, written by Steen Bille, the chief of the expedition. According to Forbes, there were three major purposes to this voyage: "exploring (with the idea of establishing a colony of the Nicobar Islands; encouraging and wherever possible forming trade agreements with foreign governments; and scientific exploration and discovery. The expedition included two zoologists, a botanist, a geologist, an etymologist, and the artists Paul Plum and Christian Thornam." Leaving Denmark in 1845, the expedition began by way of the Cape of Good Hope, then proceeded by visiting southern India, Penang, the Philippines, Java, China, and Japan, before arriving at the Hawaiian Islands. They then proceeded to the west coast of South America, Rio de Janeiro, and home. The twenty tinted lithographs focus on indigenous people, while the maps illustrate their route and places visited. It was during this voyage that Bille, representing the Danish crown, signed a treaty with the then-sovereign Hawaiian nation granting Denmark most-favored nation trading status. The expedition spent most of October and the first half of November 1846 in Hawaii, and the first two hundred pages of the third volume are devoted to an account of their visit. Two abridged editions were published in 1852 and 1853, following this first edition. FORBES HAWAII 1723. OCLC 16326286. HILL 126 (1853 abridgement). HOWGEGO 1800-1850, B35.
(Item ID: WRCAM36421) $3,250.00