In translating this travel account written by J. C. Dumont D’Urville from French into Spanish, at the king's request, special care was taken to stay as close to the original as possible. As it is a scientific expedition whose objective was the study and observation of, for example, geography, hydrography, cartography, botany and zoology, throughout the text there are many technical expressions referring to both navigation as to the other branches of knowledge. For this reason, the Latin scientific names of some botanical and marine species have been preserved.

The journey in question in this book must be seen in the context of France's recovery from the exhaustion of the Napoleonic wars. This allowed it to begin under the reign of Louis Philippe of Orleans its expansion through different regions of the globe and thus form a great colonial empire and establish itself as a world power.

This edition of L’Astrolabe and La Zélée in the Strait of Magellan, is translated by Claudia Bahamonde.