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ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 54| December 2001


Notes on Magellan's Voyage Across the Pacific

Mappe Monde Suivant les Nouvelles Observations de Messrs. del' Academie Royale des Sciences, etc.

Mappe Monde Suivant les Nouvelles Observations de Messrs. del' Academie Royale des Sciences, etc. Augmentees de de Nouveau
A. Leide: Chez Pierre Vander Aa, avec privelege, [1710]
1 map; 2 hemispheres each 14.9 cm. in diameter, on sheet 30.8 x 38.4 cm.

A beautifully presented collection of facsimiles relating to Ferdinand Magellan’s notes on his circumnavigation of the world, in 1518–21, has recently been acquired by the National Library of Australia.

Born in Sabrosa, Portugal, Magellan first saw service with the Portuguese navy reaching the rank of fidalgo escudeiro before being accused of treachery and falling out of favour with the ruling sovereign, King Manuel. Renouncing his citizenship, and naturalising as a Spaniard, he offered his services to the Spanish court and proposed an expedition to reach the Spice Islands of the East Indies (Indonesia) by travelling from the west. To achieve this aim, he also hoped to discover a strait at the extreme south of South America.

With the assistance of astronomer Ruy Falerio, and financial support from Christopher de Haro of Antwerp, amongst others, he equipped an armada of five vessels and left Seville on 10 August 1519. Nearly three years later Magellan entered Cebu in the Philippines and was killed there in a fight with the islanders on 27 April 1521. In the course of his journey he not only discovered the strait now named after him, but also named the Pacific Ocean. The survivors of the conflict continued the circumnavigation under the captaincy of Juan Sebastian Elcano and returned to Spain along the ‘Portuguese’ route, i.e. west of the 150· meridian.

The collection, titled: La Primera Vuelta al Mundo: Protagonistas, Genesis y Desattollo a Traves de los Documentos. Madrid: Testimonio Compañía Editorial, 1998, comprises key documents compiled by Magellan and others of the preparation and progress of the Magellan-Elcano voyage. The originals were sourced from the Spanish Indies Archive in Seville, the National Records office in Simancas (Valladolid) and the Portuguese archive in Torre do Tombo, Lisbon.

The facsimiles, presented as individual sheets and replicating the appearance and condition of the originals, allow the reader to follow all the stages of the expedition: the agreements between Magellan, Falerio and the Crown, appointments of the officers of the fleet, incidents arising during the launch of the ships, peace treaties with the kings of Molucca, statements by survivors about incidents during the voyage, etc. Francisco de Albo’s daily log of position and direction of the ships and the number of leagues covered is also included.

The documents are accompanied by a translation, in modern Spanish, of the facsimiles together with detailed biographical notes on Magellan and the captains of his ships, including Elcano.
—Maura O’Connor

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Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: dthomas@nla.gov.au

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