Antiquarian Auctions

Auction #114 begins on 11 Apr 2024

[Best (George)]

THE THREE VOYAGES OF MARTIN FROBISHER

Published: The Argonaut Press, London, 1938

Edition: Limited edition

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In Search of a Passage to Cathay and India by the North-West, A.D. 1576-8.

From the Original 1578 Text of George Best.

Together with Numerous Other Versions, Additions, Etc.

Now Edited, with Preface, Introduction, Notes, Appendixes and Bibliography, by Vilhjalmur Stefansson

With the collaboration of Eliose McCaskill

Together with numerous maps and illustrations

In two volumes

Limited edition:2 volumes: 166 + 293 pages, frontispiece portrait in volume 1, folding map in volume 11, title pages vignettes, numerous maps and illustrations, quarter vellum titled gilt on the spines, tan buckram boards with armorial crests on both upper covers, slight insect scarring on the covers, uncut edges, a very good set.

The colophon reads: This edition is the fifteenth publication of the Argonaut Press and is limited to 475 copies on Japon Vellum numbered 1 – 475. The original wood cut appearing on the title page is by William Monk. The volume has been printed by Walter Lewis at the University Press, Cambridge in 1938. This copy is number 210.

Sir Martin Frobisher, (born c. 1535, Yorkshire, England—died November 22, 1594, Plymouth, Devon), English navigator and early explorer of Canada’s northeast coast.

Frobisher went on voyages to the Guinea coast of Africa in 1553 and 1554, and during the 1560s he preyed on French shipping in the English Channel under a privateering license from the English crown; he was arrested several times on charges of piracy but never brought to trial.

Having become interested in the possibility of finding a Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean, Frobisher in 1576 obtained the command of three small ships, in one of which he succeeded in crossing the Atlantic that year. He reached Labrador and Baffin Island and discovered the bay that now bears his name. He returned to England with reports of possible gold mines, thereby obtaining royal backing for two further expeditions to the same area, in 1577 and 1578. On the latter of these expeditions, Frobisher sailed up Hudson Strait but then turned back to anchor at Frobisher Bay, where his attempts to establish a colony were unsuccessful. Frobisher’s single-minded pursuit of mineral treasure limited the exploratory value of his voyages, and, when the ores he brought back from his third voyage proved to contain neither silver nor gold, his financing collapsed, and he was forced to seek other employment.

In 1585 Frobisher sailed as vice admiral of Sir Francis Drake’s expedition to the West Indies, and three years later he played a prominent part in the campaign against the Spanish Armada, being knighted during the operations. Over the next six years Frobisher commanded various English naval squadrons, including one in the Azores (1591) that unsuccessfully sought to capture Spanish treasure ships. In 1594 he was mortally wounded fighting a Spanish force on the west coast of France. Frobisher was undoubtedly one of the ablest seamen of his time, but as an explorer he lacked the capacity for patient factual investigation.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Martin-Frobisher

 

 

  • Overall Condition: A very good set
  • Size: 4to (260 x200mm)
  • Sold By: Clarke's Africana & Rare Books
  • Contact Person: Paul Mills
  • Country: South Africa
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Telephone: 021 794 0600
  • Preferred Payment Methods: Visa & Mastercard via PayGate secure links and Bank transfers.
  • Trade Associations: ABA - ILAB, SABDA


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