1. "A New Voyage round the World…". Fourth edition, 1699, corrected from the first edition of 1697.

1. "A New Voyage round the World…". Fourth edition, 1699, corrected from the first edition of 1697.

The first account of the first English landing in Australia.

2. "Voyages and Descriptions Vol. II… A supplement to the Voyage round the World…". Second edition, 1700.

The continuation of Dampier's New Voyage, described as Volume II on the title-page but quite separately published.

3. "A Voyage to New Holland, &c. in the year, 1699…". First edition.

The important and rare first edition of the first deliberate English voyage to Australia, one of very few classic pre-Cook voyages to the continent.

A very attractive set of Dampier's voyages, in contemporary bindings and with excellent provenance, complete to the publication of the "Voyage to New Holland" (but before publication of the separately-published continuation of 1709). Most sets of Dampier's voyages are examples of the much later compilation edition of 1729 and sets composed of the original printings are desirable.

These classic voyage narratives by England's most famous buccaneer represent a major body of early Pacific description, including the first landing by an Englishman in Australia, and the first deliberate English voyage to Australia, one of very few classic pre-Cook voyages to the continent.

Widely regarded as the greatest English explorer and navigator before Cook, Dampier was also a popular and exciting writer. His books went through many editions - indeed he is still in print in one form or another - and copies of the early editions of his voyages have always been difficult to find. In 1729 his publishers made an effort to continue sales by establishing a uniform version, but even in the early nineteenth century the books were rare: Burney noted in his collection of Voyages (vol. IV, p. 486) that "Many editions of Dampier's Voyages have been printed, and they have been so fairly worn out that at this time it is difficult to procure a complete set…".

---

Burney also commented that "It is not easy to name another voyager or traveller who has given more useful information to the world; to who the merchant and mariner are so much indebted; or who has communicated his information in a more unembarrassed and intelligible manner. And this has been done in a style perfectly unassuming, equally free from affectation and from the most distant appearance of invention. It is with peculiar justness of feeling that the author of the Navigation aux Terres Australes [i.e. de Brosses], speaking of him, demands 'mais où trouve t'on des navigateurs comparables à Dampier?' Swift approved the plainness and simplicity of his style, as is evident by Captain Lemuel Gulliver hailing him cousin…".

Contents:

1. "A New Voyage round the World…". Fourth edition, 1699, corrected from the first edition of 1697.

The first account of the first English landing in Australia: in 1688, "being now clear of all the Islands, we stood off South, intending to touch at New Holland, a part of Terra Australis Incognita, to see what the country would afford us… New Holland is a very large tract of Land. It is not yet determined whether it is an Island or a main Continent; but I am certain that it joyns neither to Asia, Africa, nor America…".

Members of the expedition came ashore on the Northwest coast on 5 January 1688. They spent over two months there, did some desultory exploring, cleaned the ship's bottom, ate "Turtle and Manatee every day", and had numerous meetings with the Aborigines. Dampier was famously unimpressed ("the miserablest People in the world"), but his lengthy descriptions are said to have been the inspiration for Swift's episodes of Gulliver among the Yahoos. The folding "Map of the East Indies" shows a large proportion of the north west coast of Australia and marks the point (present-day Dampier Land) where the expedition stopped before turning back to the East Indies.

2. "Voyages and Descriptions Vol. II… A supplement to the Voyage round the World…". Second edition, 1700.

The continuation of Dampier's New Voyage, described as Volume II on the title-page but quite separately published. The first part is the most interesting, dealing with Dampier's experiences in the Far East and the East Indies.

3. "A Voyage to New Holland, &c. in the year, 1699…". First edition.

The important and rare first edition of the first deliberate English voyage to Australia, one of very few classic pre-Cook voyages to the continent. Dampier was the first Englishman to visit Australia when he stopped on the west coast in 1688, but he remained only a short time (publishing an account in the frist volume of this set). In 1699, he set sail again on this voyage to New Holland. His account represented a third volume of adventures, and although the title page refers to the work as volume three, it was in fact published quite separately. The engraved plates - birds, fish and plants - are among the very earliest depictions of Australian natural history.

Copies of the original edition of this voyage to New Holland are now uncommon. As James A. Williamson wrote in his introduction to the 1939 Argonaut Press edition, 'Dampier's permanent service to his countrymen was to arouse their interest in the exploration of the Pacific… His third and last book… concentrated attention more particularly on the western and southern Pacific. It might have been more aptly described as a voyage to New Britain and a project for Eastern Australia, for there essentially lay the focus of his interest…'.