Nautical·Maritime· Naval I&tory Out ofprint & Collectable Books
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Malaspina and Galiano. Spanish Voyages to the Northwest Coast, 1791 and ERIC FREEMAN, B OOKSELLER 1792, by Donald C Cutter (Douglas & PO Box 97516, Raleigh, NC 27624 Mcintyre, Vancouver{foronto and Uni919-846-7545 versityofWashingtonPress, Seattle WA, 1991 , l 60pp, maps, illus, biblio, index; US and Canada) $34.95hb r NAVAL-MARITIME-MILITARY~ Malaspina's "Political-Scientific ExpeAVIATION BOOKS dition around the World" (1789-1794) Send only $5.00 for a 1-year subscription consisting of 4 was inspired by Spain's desire to emuquarterly catalogs. Each contains 48 pages & includes late, perhaps even surpass , the three great approximately 1,500 book listings of out-of-print & new books. scientific expeditions of Cook (1768.MTHEIL BOOMELLERS 1771 , 1772-1775and 1776-1780)andof ~177(SH) Isabelle Ct.• No. Bellmore, NY 1171~ Laperouse (1785-1788). Not only would such an ambitious project bring Spain international prestige, it would illustrate - Large selection of dramatically the stimulus given the natu1 out-of-print NAUTICAL ral and physical sciences by the enlightnautical books 5 catalogues/year ened monarch, Carlos III. BOOKS from our stock "'~ - · ;;.. ~ ....~ Alejandro Malaspina, a young experiof 10,000 books OPEN SHOP enced naval officer, embodied the spirit 504 Main St (Rt 6A) atthe corner of Meadow Lane and characterof the Enlightened Navy, as West Barnstable, MA 02668 (508) 362-8966 Spanish historians call the new Navy resulting from the reforms introduced by Old & Rare Maritime Carlos III and the Age of Enlightenment itself. His expedition was staffed by handBooks picked young and promising naval officat reasonable prices ers like himself, as well as civilian scienSend for free catalogs tists. An enormous amount of information was collected in the fields of ethnology, ten pound island book co. botany and other disciplines in the realm 3 Center St. Gloucester, MA 01930. of the natural sciences. Particular impor(508) 283-5299 tance was assigned astronomy and cartography, using state of the art navigational We are also eager to purchase instruments. No less important was the old books of all kinds, especially expedition's task to report on the political maritime. Please call or write. and economic condition of the Spanish Empire in the Americas and the Pacific. Unfortunately, the great dream of scientific acclaim was not to be realizedComplete PLANK-onat least not until today. No sooner did FRAME and SOLID HULL Malaspina return home a public hero to PLANS by P. TAKAKJIAN be welcomed at Court and promoted to All frames, details, sail & rigging plans Brigadier (Commodore), than he fell 32-gun Frigate Essex (1799) victim to an intrigue to replace the Chief $35. 4 sheets, 3/16" scale Minister who was also the Queen's faHMS Sultana (1768 vorite. He was arrested, tried, condemned $25. 2 sheets, 1/4" scale and imprisoned for eight years and then Royal Yacht Fubbs exiled to his native Parma. All his papers 4 sheets, 1/4" scale $35. and the massive amount of data obtained 15th Century Caravel 2 sheets, 3/32" scale $20. by his scientists, their collections, maps and diaries as well as the work of his RIV Vema ex-Hussar 2 sheets, 1/8" scale $20. artist, were impounded. Dr. Cutter does Hudson River Sloop Victorine not attempt to settle definitively the con2 sheets, 3/16" scale $15. troversy over Malaspina's guilt but beShip's Boats (1794) lieves that his "fall from grace was in $8. 2 sheets, 3/16" scale some way associated with his liberal Add $3.50 shipping & handling in the US, political ideas and his popularity as a or $5.00 for foreign orders . Send check or money order to: returned hero, and complicated greatly Pier Books, Inc. by his political inexperience." PO Box 5, Piermont NY 10968 The author, who is Professor EmeriTel: 914-268-5845 tus of the University of New Mexico, has CATALOGUES ISSUED
CDLDMBllTUDING CDMPINT
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spent a lifetime researching and writing about the Spanish maritime explorations in the Pacific Northwest The Malaspina and the Alcala Galiano-Valdes expeditions have been the object of his special study. His Malaspina in California ( 1960), unfortunately Jong unobtainable, and California in 1792: A Spanish Naval Visit ( 1990) as well as numerous articles in learned journals evidence his extensive interest and knowledge. The author served as advisor and honorary curator of a major exhibition organized by the Vancouver Maritime Museum in 1991 entitled "Enlightened Voyages: Malaspina and Galiano on the Northwest Coast, 1791-1792." Though this volume is a companion book to the exhibition and includes splendidly reproduced illustrations of many of the items it contained, it is also a significant continuation of the author's Malaspina in California. An introductory chapter gives much new information on the background to the Malaspina expedition, but the body of the book deals with the expedition's North American leg. Nearly a month was spent in YakutatBay,Alaska, where Malaspina ascertained that the mythical Strait of Lorenzo Ferrer Maldonaldo did not exist in that latitude as believed by some geographers. Two weeks were also spent in N ootka Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island where the small Spanish settlement had been the cause of serious difficulties with England. At the time of the expedition 's visit, relations between the infant settlement and Maquinna, the Nootka chief, were at a low ebb, but by patient diplomacy Malaspina and his officers were successful in obtaining confirmation of the great chief's willingness to grant Spain the right to occupy the site of their settlement in Friendly Cove. The author draws extensively on Malaspina's own papers, the journals of his officers, scientists and artists, from which extensive extracts are woven into his narrative. In this way, he not only gives depth to the account but he also gives the reader a heightened sense of presence. Few of the extracts quoted have been previously published in English.Just which aspects of this richly documented volume will appeal will depend on one's particular interests, but to the present reviewer, the extraordinary perceptiveness of the officers and artists who detailed their observations of the life and culture of the Tlingit at Yakutat Bay and the Nootka in SEA HISTORY 61 , SPRING 1992
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