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English naval explorer’s journal should not go abroad, says Culture Minister

070/09
08 May 2009
 
Culture Minister Barbara Follett has placed a temporary export bar on a journal kept by the 17th-century English naval explorer Sir John Narbrough. This will provide a last chance to raise the money to keep the journal in the United Kingdom.

The Minister’s ruling follows a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, administered by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). The Committee recommended that the export decision be deferred on the grounds that the journal is so closely connected with our history and national life that its departure would be a misfortune, and that it is of outstanding significance for the study of British naval history in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Committee awarded a starred rating to the journal, meaning that every possible effort should be made to raise enough money to keep it in the country.

The journal is written largely in Sir John Narbrough’s (1640-1688) own hand and appears to be his personal journal, covering the period between 1666-71. Few such personal journals from naval officers of that period have survived, and this one is unpublished and little-researched. It contains the fullest known account of Narbrough’s voyage to South America, and includes his own observations and comments as well as official navigational notes. It bears witness to his skill as a captain, his concerns for the welfare of his crew, and his scientific curiosity in the living and working conditions of the natives of Patagonia. It also describes in detail his passage, in both directions, of the Straits of Magellan between 1669 and 1671.

Also included in the temporary export bar are three charts, hand-drawn in colour by Narbrough himself, which were originally bound in with the journal. As well as soundings, they also contain written descriptions and illustrations of the inhabitants and indigenous wildlife of Patagonia and Chile.

Lord Inglewood, Chairman of the Reviewing Committee, said: “Narbrough was a surprisingly modern, self-made man who has been largely neglected by history, but deserves to be better known. As well as testifying to his importance as a navigator, diarist and map-maker, the journal and charts are also significant documents for the study of British naval history.”

The decision on the export licence application for the journal and charts will be deferred for a period ending on 7 July inclusive. This period may be extended until 7 November inclusive if a serious intention to raise funds with a view to making an offer to purchase them at the recommended price of £310,000 is expressed.

Anyone interested in making an offer to purchase the journal and charts should contact the owner’s agent through:
 
The Secretary
The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest
Museums, Libraries and Archives Council
Wellcome Wolfson Building
165 Queen’s Gate
South Kensington
London SW7 5HD
Telephone 020 7273 8270

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NOTES TO EDITORS

  1. Media enquiries on the operation of and casework arising from the work of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA) should be directed to Senior Media Relations Adviser, Sunita Sharma, on 020 7273 8299, email: sunita.sharma@mla.gov.uk.

  2. Sir John Narbrough (1640-1688 ) was an English naval officer from a humble background who rose on his own abilities. In 1669 he was commissioned captain of the Sweepstakes, and instructed to investigate the possibilities of trade with South America by surveying and mapping its coasts, without provoking the Spanish. He investigated the commercial potential of several ports, and for the first time charted in detail the dangerously winding Straits of Magellan, which lie between the southern tip of mainland Chile and the island of Tierra del Fuego. His most important achievement was to demonstrate the falsity of the accepted wisdom that the wind and currents in the Straits would prevent any west to east passage, proving that the South Seas trade was technically feasible for the English.

  3. The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest is an independent body, serviced by MLA, which advises the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on whether a cultural object, intended for export, is of national importance under specified criteria. Where the Committee finds that an object meets one or more of the criteria, it will normally recommend that the decision on the export licence application should be deferred for a specified period. An offer may then be made from within the United Kingdom at or above the fair market price.

  4. Pictures of these items are available. Please email sunita.sharma@mla.gov.uk.

  5. The largely autograph manuscript journal is in original white vellum binding and measures 315 x 208 mm. The charts are:

    a.Port Dissier [“Desire”, Deseado] Patagonia, 565 x 438 mm;

    b. Port St Julian [Puerto San Julian], Patagonia, 580 x 448 mm;

    c. Baldavia [Valdivia] Chile, 570 x 440 mm;

    d. [Mapp of the Streights of Magellan] a late state of the printed map originally published in 1694 to accompany the printed version of Narbrough’s journal, with the dedication to Samuel Pepys removed and replaced with a dedication to Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, ca. 1713, 420 x 430 mm.

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