A voyage round the world, in his Majesty's ship the DOLPHIN, commanded by the honourable Commodore Byron
Subject or historical figure
Commodore John Byron
(British, 1723 - 1786)
Date1767
Object number00028618
NameBook
MediumInk on paper, leather
DimensionsOverall: 208 x 135 x 20 mm, 0.35 kg
ClassificationsBooks and journals
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionA book titled 'A voyage round the world, in his Majesty's ship the DOLPHIN, commanded by the honourable Commodore Byron. In which is contained, a faithful account of the several places, people, plants, animals, &c. Seen on the voyage: and, among other particulars, a minute and exact description of the streights of Magellan, and of the gigantic people called Patagonians. Together with an accurate account of seven islands lately discovered in the South Seas. By an officer on board the said ship'.
The plates of Patagonian 'giants' encountering the English are amongst the most famous of voyaging images. As Percy Adams writes"for a decade after he returned from circumnavigating the globe, Admiral Byron's name was perhaps as famous as was to be the poets later (his grandson), not so much for having commanded men who went around the world..but for having commanded men who, in books and newspapers and by word of mouth, announced to all the world that there was a race of nine foot giants in Patagonia.'HistoryThis famous unauthorised account of "Foul-Weather Jack "Byron's command of the DOLPHIN on her 1764 - 66 circumnavigation of the globe was published anonymously but is usually attributed to midshipman Charles Clerke who later sailed on all three of Cook's voyages.
Byron's expedition was an important precursor of the voyages of Wallis, Carteret and Cook, but its immediate contemporary impact was the sensation created by rumours of Patagonian 'giants' encountered by the expedition. These tall stories gained currency from a report sent in jest by Clerke to the Royal Society (and printed in the Philosophical Transactions for 1767), and from a similar account published in this book. Extraordinarily, the stories seem to have been encouraged by the British government to divert attention from Byron's taking possession of the Falklands, politically the most sensitive and controversial aspect of his voyage. The affair of the Patagonian 'giants' embroiled many great figures of the Enlightenment including Voitaire.SignificanceUnder the command of John Byron, the Dolphin set sail in 1764 for the Falklands, those islands much contested by European powers. After circumnavigating the globe and suffering many privations an anonymous account of the voyage was written, probably by Charles Clerke, later to sail with Cook.
