P.O. BOX 8016
The Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington C.1, New Zealand
Dept. of Manuscripts,
British Museum,
London W.C.1.
21 April 1960.
TL 1/9
"The British Museum copy of Woide's translation of the Journal of Abel Tasman (Add. MS. 8947) appears to be a fair copy of the MS. in your Library and is written in the same hand. In place of the covering letter (photogr. I) is a title page bearing the bookstamp of Joseph Banks.
From the photographs you enclose there seem to be no significant differences between the two texts. On the whole, Add. 8947 has few corrections and incorporates most of the alterations in your MS., although sometimes it reverts to forms deleted in your MS. and sometimes makes further slight alterations or rephrasings.
The greatest difference seems to be in the appendix, called 'Notes to Tasman's Journal' in your MS, which in Add. 8947 is called 'A Collation of Tasman's Journal with the Abstracts published by Valentine, Dalrymple, etc.', beg. 'The Abstracts of Tasman's Journal have but the following dates.' (f. 157) and followed by a list of 38 ' Tabulae ' of views described in the Journal (ff. 159-171)."
