Part II of the Parsons Collection of Pacific Voyages from Hordern House
Part II of the Parsons collection of Pacific voyages.
By Michael Stillman
Hordern House, of New South Wales, Australia, has recently released the second part of their magnificent catalogue of the collection of David Parsons. Parsons, an American collector from Atlanta, developed one of the finest collections of Pacific voyages you could imagine. In January, we reviewed the first part of this collection, which started with Dampier's voyages in the 1670s and ended with Cook (see http://www.americanaexchange.com/NewAE/aemonthly/review_1.asp?id=234&q=hordern%20and%20parsons&page=1). This second part of the collection begins with the post-Cook era, and continues to the mid-19th century.
David Parsons reported that he decided to put his Pacific voyages collection up for sale to concentrate on a collection of Spanish and Portuguese expansion at the time of Columbus. We can see two very good reasons why he selected Hordern House to conduct the sale, though some might think an Australian bookseller out of the way. First, a great many Pacific voyages involved Australia or Pacific islands for which Australia is their closest large neighbor. Australia was the major stopping point for the greatest of all Pacific explorers, Captain James Cook. However, collectors of other areas, and America in particular, will find some of the greatest works for their libraries being offered in this catalogue. Just as Cook visited many other lands during his explorations, including the west coast of America, Parsons' collection covered many other Pacific countries. Indeed, many of these explorers never touched Australia. For example, there is a section on Russian explorers whose Pacific voyages never took them from the northernmost latitudes. These works are particularly interesting to collectors of Americana, as the Russians usually went to Alaska, or perhaps as far south as Nootka Sound (along Canada's Vancouver Island).
The other reason Parsons may have chosen Hordern House is the wonderful catalogues of his collection they have produced. Parsons' collection and provenance will always live in these catalogues, which in reality are large, fully described and richly illustrated memorials to his collection. Even if you are not in the market for the original books, if your interest is in Pacific voyages, you might want to contact Hordern House concerning a copy of this set. It is itself a collectible piece. Here are a few of the books that are offered in the second volume.
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Part II of the Parsons Collection of Pacific Voyages from Hordern House
Captain Bligh, shown (perhaps unfairly) being dragged from hiding under a bed.
We will start with two foundation pieces for an Australian collection. Item 141 is A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay... by Captain Watkin Tench. This is a first edition from 1789 of the earliest published authentic account of Australian settlement. Priced at $21,000 Australian (approximate US dollar equivalent of $15,960). Item 142 is Arthur Phillip's The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay... Also published in 1789, this book not only provides the first official account of Australian settlement and the journey to Botany Bay, but many hand-colored plates of Australian natural history. AU $65,000 (US $49,400).
For those interested in the famous, or infamous, Captain Bligh, it is all here. It starts with two unrelated texts about the wonders of breadfruit. Bligh's mission on the Bounty was to transport breadfruit seedlings from Tahiti to the Caribbean, where they could be used as an important food source. Then it moves on to Bligh's accounts of the mutiny, both his first and expanded second book. There is a copy of the account of the ship Pandora, sent to capture the mutineers, but which went down on a barrier reef. There are minutes of the court martial in England against the mutineers. Also, the extremely rare answer given by Bligh to allegations made against him during the proceedings. There is even a copy of the faked letters from chief mutineer Fletcher Christian, purporting to tell of his escape from Pitcairn Island to new adventures around the world. Item 164, however, recounts a second mutiny against Bligh much less known than the famed one on the Bounty. Fifteen years after the famous mutiny, Bligh was appointed Governor of New South Wales in Australia. Ultimately, Bligh proved to be about as popular there as he was with the crew of the Bounty. He was arrested and removed by subordinates on January 26, 1808, though he would eventually be exonerated back in Britain, be promoted to Rear Admiral, and live out his life without further insurrection. Item 164 includes six 1898 facsimiles of documents relating to his arrest printed in Sydney, along with a colored facsimile of a famous image of his arrest, where he was purported to have been dragged out from under a bed where he was hiding. Bligh may have been hiding in hopes of re-establishing his authority before he could be captured, but the image of him cowering in fear is almost certainly grossly unfair, as his amazing journey back in a small boat after the mutiny on the Bounty attests to his courage. AU $9,000 (US $6,840).
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Part II of the Parsons Collection of Pacific Voyages from Hordern House
Parrot depicted in Governor Phillips' voyage to Botany Bay.
Item 167 is the official account of one of the most important voyages ever, though not for the new lands it discovered. It is a Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, between the Years 1826 and 1836... This four-volume set recounts exploration around South America and as far as Australia, but what makes it notable is the third volume. This was written by Charles Darwin, who traveled on the Beagle as a naturalist. Darwin observed fossils, animals, and native peoples along the many stops, and what he observed would later lead to his theory of evolution. AU $78,500 (US $59,660).
Another series within the collection pertains to the voyage of French explorer Jean La Perouse. La Perouse would first visit the Pacific coast of Asia. He had a habit of sending his journals home to France at various stops, which he did at Macao. He then proceeded to Australia, where he arrived at Botany Bay shortly after the British. He spent several amiable weeks there, again sent home his journals, and proceeded to sea. He was never heard from again. Within this series is the report generated from the journals he sent back, notices of concerns as it became feared he was lost, reports of attempts to find him, a fictitious account of finding him, and Peter Dillon's narrative of finally locating the wreckage of La Perouse's ships forty years later. Item 217 is a particularly fascinating related item. It is the story of Baron de Lesseps' overland journey through Russia, carrying the pages La Perouse sent home from Macao. De Lesseps spoke Russian, and completed a harrowing overland trip during 1787 and 1788, finally reaching France, text intact. His book, published in 1790, is Journal Historique du Voyage de M. de Lesseps... $4,200 (US $3,192). The first English translation of this work is also offered.
Hordern House may be found online at www.hordern.com Their telephone number is +61 (0) 2 9356 4411.
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