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Curious Map. Terra Australis, New Guinea, New Britain c1759.

Curious Map. Terra Australis, New Guinea, New Britain c1759.

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by Kinnersley, T.

18thC New Holland: Cape York, Carpentaria, Arnhem Land... A Curious Map of some late Discoveries in the Terra Australis comprehending New Guinea & New Britain. Rare antique map with Diemens Land, Arnhem's Land, Carpentaria and curiously shaped Cape York, Land of the Papous Named by Le Maire New Guinea, New Britain Island and north side of Dampier's Passage. T. Kinnersley, c1759.

A  wonderful little map, published in The Grand Magazine of Magazines. or Universal Register in 1759 by T. Kinnersley. The accompanying text page quotes Woodes Rogers, captain of the privateering expedition who, on the Duke, with William Dampier as sailing master, had rescued Alexander Selkirk (apparently the inspiration for ‘Robinson Crusoe’). Rogers said that New Britain Island would make a good trading base for the East India trade, but the accompanying text accuses the Dutch of inaccuracy in their maps of the region in an attempt to foil other countries’ enterprises.

Set up in 1750 in competition with the Gentleman’s Magazine, the Grand Magazine was a public register of literature and amusement. It contained biographical sketches, history, travel writing, natural history, poetry, current events, lists of marriages, births, deaths, and promotions, book reviews, and a table of stock prices. It promoted itself as being a “Grand magazine of universal intelligence, and monthly chronicle of our own times..”. It did not achieve a widespread circulation however, and closed ten years later in 1760. It was a pocket size publication, mostly written by David Henry, and was liberally illustrated by numerous engravers.

Both map and text are in relatively good condition, except for a couple of small nicks at the external edge of the pages. The page size is 130 x 210mm (5 x 8.1/4 inches). To its border the map measures 113 x 188mm (4.1/2 x 7.3/8 inches).

Stock Number: amAuNGcur.26PPrice: $750.00