Central Library gets permanent loan of books on Pacific

July 16, 1971

The Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages, one of the outstanding collections of books on early voyages in all parts of the Pacific, has been placed on permanent loan in the Central University Library, University of California, San Diego by its owner, Mr. Kenneth E. Hill of New Jersey. The collection of 500 volumes includes reports and commentaries of important voyages in the Pacific from those of Ferdinand Magellan and Sir Francis Drake to explorations through the first half of the nineteenth century.

A small reception honoring Mr. and Mrs. Hill will be held at 3:00 p.m., Wednesday, July 21, in the UCSD Central University Library.

Under the terms of the deposit the collection will be housed and maintained in the UCSD Library's Department of Special Collections where it will be made available to students and scholars. A catalog of the collection will be published in the near future under the editorship of Ronald Silveira de Braganza, Head of the Special Collections Department, assisted by Charlotte Oakes and Jonathan Hill.

The collection is of great importance to UCSD, according to Melvin J. Voigt, University Librarian, who noted the long-standing interest in the Pacific by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, whose scientists have followed the early voyagers with their own "voyages of discovery." More recently UCSD's departments of anthropology, linguistics, history, and sociology have developed with strong emphasis in Pacific studies, for which this collection will provide much valuable information. Thus, the research value of the collection lies not only in the accounts of the voyagers and their maps and charts, but also in the extensive anthropological, sociological, botanical, and zoological reports made by the scholars and scientists who accompanied the explorers.

The major portion of the Hill Collection relates to the century from 1740 to 1845 and is especially rich in British scientific and exploratory voyages of the eighteenth century - most notable are those of Bligh, Cook, and Anson.

Captain William Bligh, of mutiny on the Bounty fame, is represented by eight accounts. These include his own works, those of other survivors, the log of the Bounty, and the rare text of Minutes of the Proceedings of the Court- Martial, 1794.

Captain James Cook's three voyages of exploration are illustrated by sixteen different works, as well as the official nine-volume account of the voyages. Some of these works, as represented by John Ledyard, A Journal of Captain Cook's Last Voyage to the Pacific, 1783, and David Samwell, A Narrative of the Death of Captain James Cook, 1786, are extremely rare and valuable.

Admiral George Anson's privateering voyage of 1740 to 1744 is represented by thirteen separately published renderings, called the unofficial accounts, and two official accounts of the circumnavigation. Exciting tales are recounted about the capture of the famed Manila Galleon in 1743.

Numerous French accounts of exploratory voyages are also represented in the Hill Collection. These include the accounts of: Arago, Bougainville, Choris, Duhaut-Cilly, Franchere, La Pe'rouse La Place, Peron, and Petit- Thouars. There are also many Russian and American accounts of voyages. Several seventeenth century voyages are also present in addition to the Drake item. Within the Hill Collection several areas of concentration are noted: The two Californias - Jean Chappe D'Auteroche, A Voyage to California, 1778; Richard Cleveland, Narrative of Voyages and Commercial Enterprises, 1842; Miguel Costanso, Diario Historico de los Viages, 1770; Alexander Dalrymple, An Historical Journal of the Expeditions, 1790; Alexander Forbes, A History of Upper and Lower California, 1839; Francisco Palou, Relation Historica de la Vida de Junipero Serra, 1787; Miguel Venegas, Noticia de la California, 1757 and the English edition of 1759. (more)

The Pacific Northwest - Eugene Duflot de Mofras, Explorations du Territorie de l'Oregon, 1844; Jose Espinosa y Tello, Relacion del Viage, 1802; Washington Irving, Astoria, 1836; Lewis and Clark, History of the Expedition, 1814, and the 18C7 edition by Patrick Cass; John Meares, Voyages from China to the N.W. Coast of America, 1790; Wyndham Robertson, Oregon, 1846; George Vancouver, A Voyage of Discovery, 1798; and Henry Warre, Sketches in N. America and Oregon, 1848.

The southern continent of Australia is another area of concentrated interest as shown by: Matthew Flinders, A Voyage to Terra Australis, 1814-38; John Hunter, Historical Journal of Port Jackson and Norfolk Island, 1793; Gov. Arthur Phillips, Voyage to Botany BM, 1789; and John White, Journal of a Voyageto New South Wales, 1790.

The Spanish territories and Mexico are well represented by: Antonio de Herrera, Descripcion de las Indias, 1730; Alexander von Humboldt, Vues des Cordilleres, 1810; Francisco Lopez de Gomara, Historia General de las Indias, 1555, and his Cronica de la Nueva Espana, 1554; Francisco A. Lorenzana, Historia de Nueva Espana, 1770; Carlos Nebel, Voyage Pittoresque, 1836; and Antonio de Solis, History of the Conquest of Mexico, 1724.

Many fine collected voyages are present in the Hill Collection including those edited by James Burney, Alexander Dalrymple, Antonio Galvao, Richard Hakluyt, John Harris, Peter Martyr, Samuel Purchas, and Giovanni Ramusio.

A small, but important, segment of the collection contains voyages and travels in the Arctic regions.

Mr. Hill is continuing to add to the collection. Recent acquisitions include Dumont d'Urville's Voyage de la Corvette l'Astrolabe, 1826-1829, published in 20 volumes in 1830-1835, and Vaillant's Voyage Autour du Monde, 1836-1837, in 18 volumes, 1840-1852.

(July 16, 1971)