The Weekend Australian, 18th-19th December, 1999
Review by Michael Reid
Extract from article reprinted by kind permission of the author.
Should a buyer wish to form a collection rather than a mere assemblage of objects, it is imperative that the collector gains a thorough understanding of their area of interest. Collecting art is after all is said and done primarily a task of obtaining and applying knowledge. Over the festive season collectors are advised to augment their hands on art handling experience by reading any number of user-friendly art reference or art market books. Consider the following subjects and authors....
For the bibliophile sea-salt in the family, rare book dealers Hordern House in conjunction with the Australian National Maritime Museum have just released another outstanding work in the Australian Maritime Series. A unique project started in 1991 that makes available beautiful facsimile edition, finely bound early voyage books. Entitled Mirror of the Australian Navigation, by Jacob Le Maire and originally published in 1622. The Facsimile tells an epic story of spice trade greed and the first navigators to forge a new route into the Pacific via Cape Horn- yours at $248 for the standard edition or $850 for the deluxe volume.