SCHOUTEN, Willem Corneliszoon

Journal ou Relation exact du voyage dans les Indes: Par un nouveau destroit, & par les grandes Mers Australes qu'il a descouvert, vers le Pole Antartique. Paris chez M. Gobert / et les Cartes chez M. Tavernier 1618 Ref. Sabin 77952; Howgego S65; Shirley World 299; Hill pp.269-270; cf. Tiele 985, cf. Cox I, p. 41. First published in Dutch in 1618 as "Journal ofte beschryvinghe van de wonderlicke reyse.... Hoe hy bezuyden de Strate van Magellanes een nieuwe Passagie ontdekt, en voort den gheelen Aerd-kloot omgheselt". Schouten's voyage was one of the great early voyages of discovery and only the third circumnavigation. Undertaken in 1615 and lasting until 1617, this important expedition succeeded in its primary objective which was to find an alternative route to the rich sources of wealth in the Pacific. Third French translation of Schouten's popular account of his circumnavigation with Jacob Le Maire in search of the unknown southern continent. Among the expedition's cartographic contributions were the discovery of a new strait of Tierra del Fuego, named after Le Maire, and charting parts of the coastline of New Guinea. This Paris edition follows the French translation printed at Amsterdam the same year, but "with alterations and improvements in the text" (Sabin) and the plates in slightly smaller versions. Schouten's landmark voyage was only the third circumnavigation, 'during which Cape Horn [named after Schouten's hometown of Hoorn] was discovered and rounded for the first time' (Hill) According to Cox, this circumnavigation and first passage through the Strait of Le Maire was 'one of the most remarkable voyages ever undertaken, [which] contributed much to the science of cartography...the numerous editions of the voyage attest its popularity, indicating how much the new passage into the South Seas was appreciated which would open a route to lands thought to lie south of those monopolized by the Dutch East India Company." 8vo, [xiv], 232 pp, ill. with 8 folding engraved plates: double-hemisphere map with portraits of Magellan, Schouten, and others, 3 sea charts, and 4 views (without the first blank leaf as usual, third map just shaved at lower edge, map of New Guinea slightly weak at fold, section of title fore-edge replaced, occasional tiny marginal wormtrack, slightly browned). Souple vellum binding, reusing old vellum, title in ink on spine