AUTHOR: Guillemard, Francis Henry Hill (1852-1933) TITLE: The cruise of the Marchesa to Kamchatka & New Guinea. With notices of Formosa, Liu-Kiu, and various islands of the Malay archipelago, by F. H. H. Guillemard. IMPRINT: London, J. Murray, 1886. COLLATION: 2 v. col. front., ill., plates, port, maps (part fold.) tables. HOLDINGS: Have complete. NOTES: “Rare first edition of this important scientific expedition to Kamschatka & New Guinea with woodcuts and plates by Keulemans, Whymper, etc., including its large appendix on the birds collected.” — Dieter Schierenberg catalogue 70 “A scarce account of a natural history expedition in the Pacific, primarily ornithological, made aboard the marchesa, an auxiliary schooner yacht of 420 tons. Visits were made to Formosa, Ryukyu Islands, Kamchatka, Bering Islands, Sulu Archipelago, New Guinea, Celebes, the Moluccas, and the Aru Islands. Richly illustrated with maps and plates of the places visited. ‘The present report of the voyage contains much information about the physical conditions of the regions visited. A collection of objects of natural history was brought home, especially from the Malay and Papuan regions, including about 3000 specimens of birds, which the author treated in a series of papers in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for 1885. One of the main objects was to become acquainted with the Birds of Paradise in their native forests, and a total number of seventeen different species of these birds was obtained.’ (Anker) A good portion of the book is devoted to the stay in Kamchatka, with many interesting observations on natural history there. Despite the Alaskan visit, not in the standard Alaskan bibliographies.” — William Reese, catalogue 197: Voyages & travels Guillemard’s work builds upon that of the great naturalist, Alfred Russell Wallace, 20 years earlier, in his classic Malay Archipelago. The Schooner Marchesa initially put in at Socotra and Oolegaum Island, one of the Maldive group, on her way from Aden and Ceylon. She proceeded via Singapore to Formosa and the Liu-kiu Islands, thence to Japan and finally to Kamschatka. Following a return visit to Japan, the yacht then explored the little-known islands of the Sulu Archipelago and the territory of ‘North Borneo Company.’ The Marchesa then returned to Singapore to take in stores, and proceeded, via Sumbawa, Celebes, and various other islands of the Malay Archipelago to New Guinea. The trip concentrated on those islands and territories that had not bee previously visited, in particular those not alluded to by Alfred Russell Wallace.” — Henry Sotheran, Picadilly notes 42 (Summer 2001) REFERENCES: Nissen, ZBI, 1761; Anker, 192. KEYWORD: 1. Oceania. 2. Kamchatka Peninsula (Russia) 3. Marchesa (Schooner yacht) 4. Natural history. LOCATION: DS507.G95 1886