William Dampier, antique map of New Guinea. Bowen c1746.

by Dampier, William

Discoveries made by Captain William Dampier in Roebuck in 1699.

Engraved by Emanuel Bowen for John Harris’s Navigantium atque Itinerantium Bibliotheca, or Complete Collection of Voyages and Travels. Published, London 1746. Later fine colour highlights Bowen's anecdotal text.

Dampier, a reformed pirate, published an account of his buccaneering voyages in 1697 - and gained himself a better reputation. Even the King enjoyed his wondrous accounts of unfamiliar places he had travelled to, and the British Admiralty gave him command of HMS Roebuck on an expedition leaving England in 1699 to explore New Holland (Australia) further.

Dampier anchored in Shark's Bay on the north western coast of Australian in July, but was unable to find fresh water or provisions. With his crew suffering from scurvy he left Australia for Timor, then sailed to New Guinea, finding and naming New Britain, as marked on this map. The low morale and poor condition of his ship made Dampier turn for home, after re-provisioning in Batavia. Having passed the Cape of Good Hope his ship sprang a leak, but it managed to reach Ascension Island, where it was beached and abandoned. His crew was stuck on the desolate island until they were picked up by a home-bound fleet.

Map size 215 x 325mm (8 1/2 x 12 3/4 inches)