Voyage. envoye a la Recherce de la Perouse. 2 tomes + atlas. - [GIFT-COPY, BY ORDER OF NAPOLEON]

"DENTRECASTEAUX - ROSSEL (edt.).

Beschreibung

Paris, 1807 (atlas) - 1808 (text). 2 large 4to + 1 folio. All three volumes bound in contemporary half calf with gilding to spines - text volumes uniform. TEXT: Volume 1 with a split front hinge, but block still tight. A patch of paper missing from back board. Both volumes with some edge wear and bumped corners. Old paper labels to inside of front boards, and a stamp to half-titles and title-pages. A bit of brownspotting, but mostly marginal. Overall, most text-leaves are clean and bright. The plates in vol. 1 have some, mostly marginal, brownspotting. Both volumes with wide margins. Some of the text is printed on blue-ish paper. (4), LVI, 704 pp. & 32 folded engraved plates + (4), VIII, 691 pp. & 1 folded plate. Many tables with astronomical observations. In all 33 folded plates. ATLAS: Wear to extremities and bumped corners. Inner front hinge re-enforced. Top right blank corner of title-page repaired, far from affecting text. A stamp to title-page. A bit of brownspotting, mostly marginal. The last ab. 10 maps with a damp stain in the middle. The reast are very nice and bright. 4 (title-page + contents-leaf) pp. & 39 maps and charts, 29 of which are double-page. Fully complete with all 33 folded plates in the text-volumes and all 39 maps and charts in the atlas-volume. A contemporary handwritten note to the title-page of the atlas stating that THE COPY WAS GIVEN TO ADMIRAL VAN DOCKUM AT THE ORDER OF NAPOLEON I. ("à Mr. le Conte-Admiral Joost Van Dockum,/ par ordre de Sm l'Empereur Napoléon 1e.") A gift-copy, ordered by Napoleon I - for the Danish admiral that had earned himself great personal admiration from Napoleon - of the first edition of this magnificent travel account, which is famous for its exploration of the Australian coast while searching for the lost Pérouse expedition that had vanished in Oceania.The excellent maps and charts of this foundational publication are made by the expedition's first hydrographical engineer, C.F Beautemps-Beaupré, who is now regarded as the father of modern French hydrography, due to his work on the present expedition. The charts published here, in the atlas volume under the title "Atlas du Voyage de Bruny-Dentrecasteaux", in 1807 were very detailed and remained the source of the English charts of the area for many years. Those of Van Diemen's Land were the exceptionally detailed and have contributed greatly to our knowledge of the area. In September 1791, the French Assembly decided to send an expedition in search of Jean-François de La Pérouse, who had not been heard of since leaving Botany Bay in March 1788. Bruni d'Entrecasteaux was selected to command this expedition and was given a frigate, Recherche with Lieutenant Jean-Louis d'Hesmity-d'Auribeau as his second-in-command, Rossel among the other officers, and Beautemps-Beaupré as hydrographer of the expedition.On September 28, the expedition left Brest. The plan of the voyage was to proceed to New Holland in Australia, to sight Cape Leeuwin, then to hug the shore closely all the way to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), inspecting every possible harbour in a rowing boat, and then to sail for the Friendly Islands (Tonga) via the northern cape of New Zealand (allowing gardener Félix Delahaye to collect live breadfruit plants for transport to the French West Indies). After that, D'Entrecasteaux was to follow Pérouse's intended route in the Pacific. However, when Bruni d'Entrecasteaux reached Table Bay, Cape Town on 17 January 1792, he heard a report that Captain John Hunter (later to be Governor of New South Wales) had recently seen - off the Admiralty Islands - canoes manned by natives wearing French uniforms and belts. Although Hunter denied this report, and although the Frenchmen heard of the denial, Bruni d'Entrecasteaux determined to make directly to the Admiralty Islands, nowadays part of Papua New Guinea, taking water and refreshing his crew at Van Diemen's Land. On 20 April 1792, that land was in sight, and three days later the shi. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 54627

Bibliografische Details

Titel: Voyage. envoye a la Recherce de la Perouse. ...

Einband: Hardcover

Auflage: 1. Auflage