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<b>Bonhams:</b> MANDELSHTAM, OSIP. 1891-1938. Autograph Manuscript, 2 pp, [Petersburg,] January 1913, entitled

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The Great South Land from Hordern House - By Michael Stillman The Great South Land from Hordern House. Hordern House has prepared a magnificent new catalogue entitled The Great South Land. Searching for the antipodes, from classical scholars to Quiros & Dampier. Before describing the catalogue's content, we first need to mention its presentation. Hordern House produces some of the most spectacular book catalogues you will find, and this one is certainly no exception. Three-quarters of an inch thick, this is a large hardcover book, richly illustrated and filled with detailed descriptions of its books and subject matter. It will be a collectible soon enough itself. Hordern House is an Australian bookseller, and "the Great South Land" naturally includes their home. However, it would be totally wrong to consider this an Australian catalogue. Its subject is a much wider land, even if most of it would in time prove to be illusory. The "antipodes" refers to land directly opposite on the globe to others, that is, reached by running a straight line from one point, through the center of the Earth, to another. In the days before the Age of Discovery, Europeans had some knowledge of much of the Northern Hemisphere (excluding North America), but almost none of its antipodes, the Southern Hemisphere. The result was much speculation, and some fundamental misunderstandings as to what was on the other side. Some of these earlier books contained descriptions, even drawings, of the creatures that supposedly lived down there. What possessed people to believe such things lived in the Southern Hemisphere is hard to know. However, what was the most fundamental belief about the world to the south was that there existed a massive southern continent, extending from the South Pole almost to the edges of South America and Africa, and still farther north into the Pacific Ocean. The primary explanation for this belief was as explorations began into the Southern Hemisphere, it was realized that there was much less land there than in the Northern Hemisphere. This upset the firm belief in antipodal balance. Scholars concluded there must be a balancing continent in the unknown part of the Southern Hemisphere, its far south. This would be the dominant theory about the southern half of the globe all the way up until James Cook's second voyage, when he sailed deep into what was supposed to be part of the southern continent with still no land in sight. This catalogue does not contain the voyages of Cook or those who put the southern continent to rest, or put the final touches on the outlines of Australia. Instead, it ranges from works of the ancient Greeks and Romans and their vision of the world, to the earliest eastern explorers - Marco Polo and John Mandeville, to the early Age of Discovery up to the early years of the 18th century, when the southern continent was still alive, and Australia, or New Holland, had been discovered, but was still an amorphous mass whose true nature was yet unknown. Here are a few of these works. Item 3 is an early printing of Pomponius Mela's Cosmographia, sive De situ orbis, just the fourth printed edition of this ancient text, published in Venice in 1478. Pomponius Mela was an ancient Roman geographer, whose work was well over a millennium old by this time, but still, along with Ptolemy, the most up to date geography. Pomponius believed that the southern half of the globe was unreachable because of a belt of impenetrable heat that separated the two halves. Nonetheless, he still believed there must be a balancing, huge southern continent at the bottom (or top if you will) of the Earth. Priced at AU $36,000 (Australian dollars, or roughly $37,283 in American dollars).
The Great South Land from Hordern House - By Michael Stillman One of Botero's strange creatures from the Great South Land. The most famous journey east came long before the Age of Discovery, or printing for that matter. The traveler was a Venetian merchant, whose attempts to establish trade during the late 13th century turned into something far grander. This explorer would be Marco Polo, and his journey to China and other areas of Asia would bring back knowledge of worlds previously unknown to Europe, He would also bring back reports of the edge of another land, often referred to as "Beach," thought to be the tip of the vast southern continent. Marco Polo was imprisoned at the return of his 24-year trip by Genoa, then at war with his native Venice. He used the interlude to write his account. Whether his work is entirely based on his own experiences, or combines those of other travelers with his own, is unclear, but certainly Marco Polo provided a picture of the Far East previously unknown. Item 38 is a 1555 printing of Marco Polo's travels, one of the few early editions published in his home town of Venice. AU $55,000 (US $56,957). Item 42 is one of the other great travelogues of the days before printing, that of Sir John Mandeville. Mandeville was supposedly an English knight who set out for the east in the mid-14th century. His account was enormously popular, first in manuscript (some 300 survive) and then as printed books. This is a late 15th century Italian printing, one of seven incunable editions in Italian. As for Mandeville, his existence, particularly under that name, is highly debatable. He likely was someone else, who perhaps visited the Near East, and borrowed from others' travels to the more outer reaches of Asia. Nonetheless, he was an inspiration to the Age of Discovery, and his claim that one could circumnavigate the globe may have encouraged Columbus to try to reach the East by heading west. AU $165,000 (US $170,857). What kind of creatures lived in the far off southern lands no one had ever visited? Imaginations ran wild in the days before explorers reached the world's outer reaches. Item 50 is Le Relationi Universali… by Giovanni Botero, a book published in 1618, but using many woodblocks that evidently had been sitting around for a very long time, well back into the previous century. It combines drawings of natives seen in far off parts of Asia with creatures strictly formed in someone's imagination, without much distinction between the real and imaginary. As the image on this page attests, some of these creatures are very strange, even for Australia! AU $32,500 (US $33,658). Item 103 is one of the Memorials of Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, beginning Despuis que puse en practica… published August 1608. Quiros undertook a pair of Pacific journeys on behalf of Spain in the early 17th century. On the second, he thought he hit paydirt - the tip of the vast southern continent. He claimed it on behalf of Spain, and returned home. He next sought funding from the crown for an additional expedition to reach the heart of the great continent. He named the land "Austrialia del Espiritu Santo." Naturally, Quiros did not find the nonexistent great southern continent, nor did he even find Australia. He discovered one of the larger islands of the New Hebrides chain. Nonetheless, he believed, and spent the rest of his life writing these Memorials to the Spanish government, attempting to convince them of why they should fund another expedition. Spain repeatedly declined. Still, Quiros' discovery would inspire others to search the far corners of the Pacific, and while not finding a massive southern continent, they did find a small one - Australia. Copies of Quiros' Memorials are exceedingly rare. Price on request.
The Great South Land from Hordern House - By Michael Stillman Batavia mutineers are hanged, while their leader first has his hands cut off. Item 84 offers some of the first looks at Australia, though this early landing was entirely unintentional. The Dutch title is Ongeluckige Voyagie, Van't Schip Batavia… by Francois Pelsaert. It is one of the rare pre-1650 editions, published in 1649. Pelsaert commanded the Batavia on its maiden voyage, a rather standard transport of jewels and goods from the Netherlands to the city of Batavia (today's Jakarta) for trade. However, some mutinous crewmen deliberately steered the ship off course, and it struck a reef along islands off the west coast of Australia. Pelsaert and some loyal crewmen explored the coast of the largely unknown continent for food and water, and being unsuccessful, headed off to Batavia in their small boat to seek rescue. When they and the rescuers returned, they discovered the mutineers had murdered many of the innocent passengers. The guilty were quickly hung, their leader, Jeronimus Cornelisz first having his hands chopped off to reinforce their displeasure with his actions. This book provides the first illustrated scenes of Australia. It also includes a second eyewitness account by Gijsbert Basiaenz, a survivor whose family was murdered by the mutineers. AU $145,000 (US $150,169). You may reach Hordern House at +61 (02) 9356 4411 or books@hordern.com. Their website is found at www.hordern.com.

The Great South Land from Hordern House

- By Michael Stillman

The Great South Land from Hordern House.

Hordern House has prepared a magnificent new catalogue entitled The Great South Land. Searching for the antipodes, from classical scholars to Quiros & Dampier. Before describing the catalogue's content, we first need to mention its presentation. Hordern House produces some of the most spectacular book catalogues you will find, and this one is certainly no exception. Three-quarters of an inch thick, this is a large hardcover book, richly illustrated and filled with detailed descriptions of its books and subject matter. It will be a collectible soon enough itself.

Hordern House is an Australian bookseller, and "the Great South Land" naturally includes their home. However, it would be totally wrong to consider this an Australian catalogue. Its subject is a much wider land, even if most of it would in time prove to be illusory. The "antipodes" refers to land directly opposite on the globe to others, that is, reached by running a straight line from one point, through the center of the Earth, to another. In the days before the Age of Discovery, Europeans had some knowledge of much of the Northern Hemisphere (excluding North America), but almost none of its antipodes, the Southern Hemisphere. The result was much speculation, and some fundamental misunderstandings as to what was on the other side.

Some of these earlier books contained descriptions, even drawings, of the creatures that supposedly lived down there. What possessed people to believe such things lived in the Southern Hemisphere is hard to know. However, what was the most fundamental belief about the world to the south was that there existed a massive southern continent, extending from the South Pole almost to the edges of South America and Africa, and still farther north into the Pacific Ocean. The primary explanation for this belief was as explorations began into the Southern Hemisphere, it was realized that there was much less land there than in the Northern Hemisphere. This upset the firm belief in antipodal balance. Scholars concluded there must be a balancing continent in the unknown part of the Southern Hemisphere, its far south. This would be the dominant theory about the southern half of the globe all the way up until James Cook's second voyage, when he sailed deep into what was supposed to be part of the southern continent with still no land in sight.

This catalogue does not contain the voyages of Cook or those who put the southern continent to rest, or put the final touches on the outlines of Australia. Instead, it ranges from works of the ancient Greeks and Romans and their vision of the world, to the earliest eastern explorers - Marco Polo and John Mandeville, to the early Age of Discovery up to the early years of the 18th century, when the southern continent was still alive, and Australia, or New Holland, had been discovered, but was still an amorphous mass whose true nature was yet unknown. Here are a few of these works.

Item 3 is an early printing of Pomponius Mela's Cosmographia, sive De situ orbis, just the fourth printed edition of this ancient text, published in Venice in 1478. Pomponius Mela was an ancient Roman geographer, whose work was well over a millennium old by this time, but still, along with Ptolemy, the most up to date geography. Pomponius believed that the southern half of the globe was unreachable because of a belt of impenetrable heat that separated the two halves. Nonetheless, he still believed there must be a balancing, huge southern continent at the bottom (or top if you will) of the Earth. Priced at AU $36,000 (Australian dollars, or roughly $37,283 in American dollars).

The Great South Land from Hordern House

- By Michael Stillman

One of Botero's strange creatures from the Great South Land.

The most famous journey east came long before the Age of Discovery, or printing for that matter. The traveler was a Venetian merchant, whose attempts to establish trade during the late 13th century turned into something far grander. This explorer would be Marco Polo, and his journey to China and other areas of Asia would bring back knowledge of worlds previously unknown to Europe, He would also bring back reports of the edge of another land, often referred to as "Beach," thought to be the tip of the vast southern continent. Marco Polo was imprisoned at the return of his 24-year trip by Genoa, then at war with his native Venice. He used the interlude to write his account. Whether his work is entirely based on his own experiences, or combines those of other travelers with his own, is unclear, but certainly Marco Polo provided a picture of the Far East previously unknown. Item 38 is a 1555 printing of Marco Polo's travels, one of the few early editions published in his home town of Venice. AU $55,000 (US $56,957).

Item 42 is one of the other great travelogues of the days before printing, that of Sir John Mandeville. Mandeville was supposedly an English knight who set out for the east in the mid-14th century. His account was enormously popular, first in manuscript (some 300 survive) and then as printed books. This is a late 15th century Italian printing, one of seven incunable editions in Italian. As for Mandeville, his existence, particularly under that name, is highly debatable. He likely was someone else, who perhaps visited the Near East, and borrowed from others' travels to the more outer reaches of Asia. Nonetheless, he was an inspiration to the Age of Discovery, and his claim that one could circumnavigate the globe may have encouraged Columbus to try to reach the East by heading west. AU $165,000 (US $170,857).

What kind of creatures lived in the far off southern lands no one had ever visited? Imaginations ran wild in the days before explorers reached the world's outer reaches. Item 50 is Le Relationi Universali… by Giovanni Botero, a book published in 1618, but using many woodblocks that evidently had been sitting around for a very long time, well back into the previous century. It combines drawings of natives seen in far off parts of Asia with creatures strictly formed in someone's imagination, without much distinction between the real and imaginary. As the image on this page attests, some of these creatures are very strange, even for Australia! AU $32,500 (US $33,658).

Item 103 is one of the Memorials of Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, beginning Despuis que puse en practica… published August 1608. Quiros undertook a pair of Pacific journeys on behalf of Spain in the early 17th century. On the second, he thought he hit paydirt - the tip of the vast southern continent. He claimed it on behalf of Spain, and returned home. He next sought funding from the crown for an additional expedition to reach the heart of the great continent. He named the land "Austrialia del Espiritu Santo." Naturally, Quiros did not find the nonexistent great southern continent, nor did he even find Australia. He discovered one of the larger islands of the New Hebrides chain. Nonetheless, he believed, and spent the rest of his life writing these Memorials to the Spanish government, attempting to convince them of why they should fund another expedition. Spain repeatedly declined. Still, Quiros' discovery would inspire others to search the far corners of the Pacific, and while not finding a massive southern continent, they did find a small one - Australia. Copies of Quiros' Memorials are exceedingly rare. Price on request.

The Great South Land from Hordern House

- By Michael Stillman

Batavia mutineers are hanged, while their leader first has his hands cut off.

Item 84 offers some of the first looks at Australia, though this early landing was entirely unintentional. The Dutch title is Ongeluckige Voyagie, Van't Schip Batavia… by Francois Pelsaert. It is one of the rare pre-1650 editions, published in 1649. Pelsaert commanded the Batavia on its maiden voyage, a rather standard transport of jewels and goods from the Netherlands to the city of Batavia (today's Jakarta) for trade. However, some mutinous crewmen deliberately steered the ship off course, and it struck a reef along islands off the west coast of Australia. Pelsaert and some loyal crewmen explored the coast of the largely unknown continent for food and water, and being unsuccessful, headed off to Batavia in their small boat to seek rescue. When they and the rescuers returned, they discovered the mutineers had murdered many of the innocent passengers. The guilty were quickly hung, their leader, Jeronimus Cornelisz first having his hands chopped off to reinforce their displeasure with his actions. This book provides the first illustrated scenes of Australia. It also includes a second eyewitness account by Gijsbert Basiaenz, a survivor whose family was murdered by the mutineers. AU $145,000 (US $150,169).

You may reach Hordern House at +61 (02) 9356 4411 or books@hordern.com. Their website is found at www.hordern.com.