The Australian Maritime Series

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The series makes available facsimile printings of important rare books which are either unobtainable today or which would sell for tens of thousands of dollars.

Latest: No 6.

George Forster's Cook, der Entdecker (Cook, the Discoverer)

George Forster's Cook, der Entdecker (Berlin, 1787) in full facsimile of the original printing, accompanied by a newly commissioned English translation, with an introductory essay by Dr Nigel Erskine.

George Forster's important study of Captain James Cook, originally published in 1787, has never before been published in English.

One of the most significant individual contemporary works on Captain James Cook, Georg Forster's important study of the great explorer has been almost continually in print in the original German ever since its 1787 publication. This sixth publication in the Australian Maritime Series provides a long overdue English translation.

The publishers have commissioned a new English translation of the original German text, which will be published beside a facsimile of the original German printing. To accompany the work, Nigel Erskine of the Australian National Maritime Museum has contributed an introductory essay setting this significant work in its context of the European enlightenment.

Current: No 5.

Le Maire's Mirror of the Australian Navigation

In this series, the original Dutch edition is accompanied for the first time by a faithful facsimile of the English text prepared by one of the great Pacific historians of the eighteenth century, Alexander Dalrymple.

Alexander Dalrymple was the first and only scholar to produce a detailed study of the Le Maire voyage in an English edition, published in 1770 in An Historical Collection of the Several Voyages and Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean. Dalrymple was the leading English hydrographer of his time, and his work reflects his passionate involvement in the centuries-old debate over the possible existence of a southern continent - the fabled Terra Australis.

One of the documents central to Dalrymple's debate was the journal of the Le Maire expedition. In fact Number 3 in the Maritime Series was Dalrymple's An Account of the Discoveries made in the South Pacifick Ocean previous to 1764  

Out of Print: No 4.

A Voyage Round the World in His Majesty's Frigate Pandora is one of the rarest and least known eighteenth-century publications relating to Bligh's infamous mutiny on the Bounty. Now for the first time since 1793, this book has been faithfully reproduced complete with the frontispiece portrait of Hamilton, and enriched by modern scholarship, as part of the Australian Maritime Series.

The story of the Pandora - the ship which was sent to recover the Bounty and to bring the mutineers to justice - is almost unknown to the modern public. Yet the story rivals even that of Bligh's mutiny on the Bounty for drama and tragedy. George Hamilton, with a light and humorous touch, not only brought to life conditions on board an eighteenth-century ship, he provided the vital clue that led modern-day archaeologists to the location of the deeply submerged wreck. On page 108 of the book Hamilton recorded - "A sandy key, four miles off, and about thirty paces long, afforded us a resting place" - and these words led a team of archaeologists in 1977 to select several coral outcrops as a primary search area within the Great Barrier Reef opening known as Pandora Entrance. The significance of this detail ensures that Hamilton's Account will forever play a crucial role in one of the most important marine archaeological sites in the southern hemisphere.

Out of Print: No 3

An Account of the Discoveries made in the South Pacifick Ocean previous to 1764

Through the existence of this work, we are shown that James Cook did not ‘happen' on the east coast of Australia. The Admiralty, with territorial expansion foremost on its mind and Dalrymple's book in its hands, virtually directed him to its discovery. The voyage of Endeavour changed forever the concept of exploration from historical analysis to scientific investigation.

The Account is one of the few books mentioned by Banks or Cook as a reference used on Endeavour and the folding chart illustrated in the book shows precisely the void in the east coast of Australia that Cook was advised to explore.

Out of Print: No 2

François PELSAERT.  The Voyage of the Batavia

The publication of Pelsaert's voyage is of special importance as the first published book on Australian discovery and the accompanying six large fold-out engravings are the first published views of Australia.

The Australian Maritime Series edition, "The Voyage of the Batavia", contains a translation of the original Dutch text, a scholarly essay on the background to the voyage, and a facsimile of the rare original 1647 printing. This publication therefore, for the first time in any century, gives the reader the original Dutch text with a complete English translation.

Out of Print: No 1

Mary Ann PARKER. A Voyage round the world.

Mary Ann Parker' s book is the first known description of settled Australia by a private traveller - also the first (by at least 40 years) by a woman.

The book tells of her voyage with her husband, Captain Parker of HMS Gorgon, to Port Jackson and Norfolk island. It provides us with insights and observations not found in the official accounts by her male contemporaries.