ABEL JANSZOON TASMAN'S JOURNAL of His Discovery of Van Diemens Land and New Zealand in 1642, with Documents Relating to His Exploration of Australia in 1644; Being Photo-Lithographic Facsimiles of the Original Manuscript in the Colonial Archives at The Hague with an English Translation and Facsimiles of Original Maps to which are added Life and Labours of Abel Janszoon Tasman by J.E. Heeres, LL. D., Professor at the Dutch Colonial Institute Delft, and Observations made with the Compass on Tasman's Voyage by Dr. W. van Bemmelen, Assistant-Director of the Royal Meteorological Institute Utrecht

Los Angeles: N.A. Kovach, 1965. Hardcover. Near fine/Very good. Edition limited to 225 copies of which 200 copies are for sale. "Tasman sailed in command of an exploratory voyage 'for the discovery of the unknown Southland...,' commissioned by the government of the Dutch East India Company at Batavia. The expedition stopped for supplies at the island of Mauritius, and then sailed in a southeasterly direction until they sighted land - present-day Tasmania, which Tasman christened Anthonij van Diemens Landt, in honor of the governor-general of the Dutch East India Company. They dropped anchor on the east coast of Tasmania and made several charts and coastal surveys of the land. They then set sail for the Salamonis (Solomon) Islands, but came straight upon the west coast of New Zealand, calling it Staten Landt, and believing it to be the mainland coast of the 'unknown Southland.' As they sailed north up the coast, several surveys of the coast and a number of drawings were made; some of the drawings concerned the natives of the land and their unfriendly treatment of the Dutchmen. They sailed further to the northeast, and visited Tongatabu, which they called Amsterdam 'because of the abundance of refreshments we got there...' The natives were very friendly, and Tasman stayed three days there, bartering for many needed supplies, and making drawings of the island and the natives. The expedition sailed through the Fiji group and charted the islands of Ontong Java (Lord Howe Island), north of the Solomon Islands. On the last leg of their journey, they sailed along and made surveys of the north coast of New Guinea. The present work is a reproduction of the edition published at Amsterdam by F. Muller in 1898." Folio, with numerous textual illustrations, and five folding maps and charts housed in the rear pocket. Full green cloth binding, with gilt-stamped titles. The dust jacket is unevenly toned, with some minor dust staining; otherwise very good. Hill 1670. (Inventory #: 77965)