Relacion del ultimo viage al estrecho de Magallanes de la fragata de S.M. Santa Maria de la Cabeza en los años de 1785 y 1786. Extracto de todos los anteriores desde su descubrimiento impresos y mss. y noticia de los habitantes, suelo, clima y producciones del estrecho. Trabajada de orden del Rey

Although Antonio de Córdoba's name appears prominently on the title page, Palau and Aguilar Piñal attribute the editorial composition of the work to José de Vargas Ponce (1760-1821), who is thought to have written the introduction and historical survey of previous explorations of the Strait, from Magellan to Bougainville, while the derrotero - the practical sailing directions themselves - is attributed to the expedition's lieutenants, Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Alejandro Belmonte, based on the observations gathered during the voyage.

The work was printed by the Viuda de Ibarra, Hijos y Compañía, successor to the celebrated press of Joaquín Ibarra, widely regarded as the finest Spanish printer of the eighteenth century. Following Ibarra's death in 1785, his widow Manuela Contera continued the business with their children, preserving the exceptional typographical standards for which the house was renowned.

The provenance lends this copy particular historical significance. A graduate of the École Polytechnique, Gaston de Rocquemaurel served as Dumont d'Urville's second-in-command aboard L'Astrolabe. Following the same route through the Strait of Magellan before continuing into Antarctic waters, the expedition famously discovered Adélie Land in January 1840. Rocquemaurel's signature thus creates a direct link between two of the most important scientific expeditions ever undertaken in the Strait, separated by little more than half a century.

An attractive copy uniting the foundational work of Spanish hydrography in the Strait of Magellan with the ownership signature of one of the leading French explorers of the southern oceans in the nineteenth century.