VARGAS Y PONCE, JOSE DE & ANTONIO DE CORDOBA RELACION DEL ULTIMO VIAGE AL ESTRECHO DE MAGALLANES

VARGAS Y PONCE, JOSE DE & ANTONIO DE CORDOBA RELACION DEL ULTIMO VIAGE AL ESTRECHO DE MAGALLANES de la fragata de S.M. Santa Maria de la Cabeza en los anos de 1785 y 1786. Madrid: la viuda de Ibarra, 1788 - 93. First edition, 2 parts in 1 vol., 4to., engraved portrait frontispiece of Magellan, with 5 folding maps and 5 tables, contemporary quarter calf, marbled boards, head, tail and edges rubbed, marginal tear in the map following p 159 (no loss), bookplate of Charles Crofton-Atkins Note: An account of Don Antonio de Córdoba's scientific and hydrographic survey of the Strait of Magellan, 1785-86, 1788- 89, compiled by José de Vargas Y Ponce, Spanish geographer and naval officer, mainly from the journals of Córdoba's lieutenants, Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Alejandro Belmonte. The expedition was appointed by the Spanish Crown to determine the exact navigability of the strait and the advisability of the Spaniards continuing to use the passage in voyages to the Pacific or whether it was preferable to enter the Pacific by way of Cape Horn, as well as to investigate the plant and animal life of the region, with a view toward colonisation.