Serrano Captain Ramon (1 results)

Thick quarto, with 95 plates and coastal profiles (many folding and printed in smaller format); a very good copy overall in later quarter calf over old marbled boards. Scarce pilot guide to the Straits of Magellan and the coastline of Tierra del Fuego, publishing the results of Chilean naval surveys conducted from 1888 to 1890. The book is notable for the extensive maps and profiles - some 95 in total - and is divided into four sections respectively treating the Straits of Magellan, Tierra del Fuego, Patagonian channels, and a better route from Chacao Channel to Cape Horn. Serrano was a captain in the survey party, acting under instructions from the Ministry of Marine (which are provided in the preface to this volume). The intention of the survey was twofold, firstly to provide accurate charts and coastal profiles for shipping through these notoriously hazardous waters, and secondly, to assert Chilean ownership over remote regions contested by Argentina. . Some moderate foxing and intermittent browning, as to be expected of paper stock of this nature, yet a most attractive copy overall.