Rare glimpse at WA history for sale

They are simple illustrations but their historical worth is immense.

They include a rare illustration of the Dutch vessel Duyfken, the first known European craft to chart part of the Australian mainland when it skirted Cape York peninsula in 1606.

There is also the earliest known European depiction of WA's black swans and a scene of the ill-fated Batavia foundering off WA.

The images are part of a remarkable collection of 127 rare historic books and maps for sale this month through Hordern House in Sydney valued at nearly $4 million.

Hordern House said the collection was compiled over decades, mostly by an Australian, who did not want to be identified.

Hordern bookseller Matthew Fishburn expects a great deal of interest in the sale. "There are items that are really once in a generation books," he said.

The black swans are found in Francois Valentijn's 3500-page Encyclopaedia of the Dutch East Indies, produced between 1724-26, which is for sale for $128,000.

The Batavia scene is in a 1649 edition of the Unlucky Voyage, by the ship's commander Francois Pelsaert.

The vessel, the pride of the Dutch East India Company, was wrecked off WA's treacherous coast in 1629.

The three views of the wreck are found on the title page of what is a complete account of the tragic tale, which is on sale for $145,000.

The image of Duyfken is part of a collection of accounts of early Dutch voyages, compiled by Isaac Commelin and published in 1645-1646, which is listed at $82,000.