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CHAPPE D'AUTEROCHE, Jean-Baptiste (1722-1769). Voyage en Sibérie. Paris: Debure, 1768.
The first edition of Chappe’s account of his journey to Siberia to observe the transit of Venus. The 1761 transit of Venus saw scholars dispatched all over the world in order to take measurements from as many disparate locations as possible. This scientific effort allowed scientists to calculate the size of the solar system for the first time. Chappe was appointed to travel to Tobolsk in Siberia, where he observed the transit guarded by a squad of Cossacks—necessary to protect him from the suspicious local population. The engravings after Jean-Baptiste Le Prince, a student of François Boucher, are particularly attractive, offering a rococo vision of Siberian life.
Volume two contains his translation of Krasheninnikov's Opisanie zemli Kamchatki (St Petersburg: 1755). Although a French translation had been previously published, it was based on the abridged English translation, whereas Chappe worked from the original Russian. According to the preface, the translation was made in St. Petersburg, where he consulted Gerhard Friedrich Muller—supervisor of both Krasheninnikov and Steller on Bering's second expedition. Cox I, 352; Hill 277; see Lada-Mocarski 12; Wickersham 6607.
Two parts in three volumes, quarto (318 x 236mm) with folio atlas (602-460mm). Text: engraved frontispiece by J.-B. Le Prince, 53 plates, 2 of which double-page, 3 maps; atlas: frontispiece, 30 engraved plates and maps, some handcolored in outline, some folding oblong views joined along one edge and bound in pairs (slight spotting throughout; occasional even toning; marginal dampstains in a few signatures). Text: contemporary calf with gilt spine and gilt edges (rebacked); atlas: modern mottled leather. Provenance: Jeschke Greve & Hauff.
The first edition of Chappe’s account of his journey to Siberia to observe the transit of Venus. The 1761 transit of Venus saw scholars dispatched all over the world in order to take measurements from as many disparate locations as possible. This scientific effort allowed scientists to calculate the size of the solar system for the first time. Chappe was appointed to travel to Tobolsk in Siberia, where he observed the transit guarded by a squad of Cossacks—necessary to protect him from the suspicious local population. The engravings after Jean-Baptiste Le Prince, a student of François Boucher, are particularly attractive, offering a rococo vision of Siberian life.
Volume two contains his translation of Krasheninnikov's Opisanie zemli Kamchatki (St Petersburg: 1755). Although a French translation had been previously published, it was based on the abridged English translation, whereas Chappe worked from the original Russian. According to the preface, the translation was made in St. Petersburg, where he consulted Gerhard Friedrich Muller—supervisor of both Krasheninnikov and Steller on Bering's second expedition. Cox I, 352; Hill 277; see Lada-Mocarski 12; Wickersham 6607.
Two parts in three volumes, quarto (318 x 236mm) with folio atlas (602-460mm). Text: engraved frontispiece by J.-B. Le Prince, 53 plates, 2 of which double-page, 3 maps; atlas: frontispiece, 30 engraved plates and maps, some handcolored in outline, some folding oblong views joined along one edge and bound in pairs (slight spotting throughout; occasional even toning; marginal dampstains in a few signatures). Text: contemporary calf with gilt spine and gilt edges (rebacked); atlas: modern mottled leather. Provenance: Jeschke Greve & Hauff.