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JEAN-FRANÇOIS GALAUP, COMTE DE LA PÉROUSE (1741-1788)
Voyage de La Pérouse Autour du Monde, Publié conformément au décret du 22 Avril 1791, et Rédigé par M. L.A. Milet-Mureau. Paris: Imprimerie de la République, An V [i.e. 1797]. 4 text volumes, 4° (291 x 226mm) and 2° Atlas (570 x 417mm). Text printed on light-blue paper, engraved portrait of La Pérouse after Tardieu, all half-titles, colophon leaf in vol. I-III, vol. IV colophon following index. (First blanks stained at outer edges, I/D4 outer margin torn, paper flaw at outer margin IV/Y2, vol. IV.) Atlas with engraved allegorical title-page by Moreau le Jeune, titled 'Atlas du voyage de La Pérouse' without imprint, and 69 engraved plates: folding world map, 35 views and natural history plates, 20 double-page maps and 13 single-page maps or coastal profiles. (Without the second engraved title or the occasional seventieth plate, a portrait of La Pérouse, one map torn at inner fold, 3 with short tear at lower margin.) Contemporary French mottled calf gilt by Courteval of c. 1797-1809 [vide infra], with his ticket 'COURTEVAL, , RELIEUR, , RUE DES CARMES, no. 1.' in vol. I, boards with borders of rope-and-disc design enclosed between rules, gilt board-edges, turn-ins gilt with greek-key pattern, spines gilt in compartments, gilt morocco lettering-pieces in 2, others decorated with floral tools, silk markers (some light rubbing, atlas skilfully restored at spine ends and corners, 2 small wormholes in upper hinge vol. I, not penetrating cover).
EXTREMELY FINE FIRST EDITION IN AN IMPORTANT CONTEMPORARY SIGNED FRENCH BINDING of one of the most important scientific explorations ever undertaken to the Pacific and the N.W. American coast, and the first scientific voyage to California. By 1785 France was anxious to share in the riches and lands of the Northwest and so appointed the comte de La Pérouse to command this multi-tasked expedition: to chart all regions not explored by Cook; to search for the North-West Passage; to carry out scientific work; to investigate the fur trade and Spain's settlements in California; and to promote French enterprise. The Astrolabe and Bussole sailed around Cape Horn for Easter Island and Hawaii before heading for the Aleutians and Alaska. Near Yakutat they optimistically named Lituya Bay 'Port des Français' (some excellent views of which are included in the atlas), and continued south to California before crossing the Pacific to China, Japan and Kamchatka. La Pérouse's charts of the Pacific coast of Asia are one of the most significant results of the voyage and he was the first European to safely navigate and chart the Sea of Japan. From Macao, portions of his logs, journals and drawings were sent back to France, and from Kamchatka, Ferdinand de Lessups carried other reports across Siberia to Europe; thus the only records of the expedition were saved. La Pérouse's last entries were sent from Botany Bay, dated February 1788, and after departing from Australia in March, neither men nor ships were ever heard from again. D'Entrecasteaux and Labillardière were unsuccessful on their 1791 search voyage and it was not until 1827 that any trace of La Pérouse was found, by Peter Dillon who was given identifiable objects from the expedition on Vanikoro Reef in the Santa Cruz group. The folio atlas contains superb maps of Russian Asia, Japan, the N.W. Pacific coast, Hawaii, San Francisco and Monterey, and a fine series of plates of these places and of native boat types, modes of living, botanical specimens and birds. The seventieth plate in the atlas noted by Brunet and Lada-Mocarski is the frontispiece portrait of La Pérouse which was reprinted on folio paper and occasionally bound in at the end of the atlas. Hill, Forbes, Ferguson and Sabin list 69 plates for this 1797 atlas, while Sabin lists 70 for the 1798 atlas to the octavo edition. Courteval, the binder of this superb set, is regarded as one of the greatest of his day, working in Paris from about 1796-1836 with his best bindings being made before 1815. His first address was rue des Carmes no. 1, being changed to no. 5 by 1809 (cf. C. Ramsden, French Bookbinders 1789-1848 (London: 1950), p. 59 and L. Gruel Manuel historique et bibliographique de l'amateur de relieures (Paris: 1887), I, p. 73). Therefore, it can be concluded that the bindings are closely contemporaneous with the printing, executed between publication in 1797 and the change of address in 1809. Hill 972; Forbes 272; Lada-Mocarski 52; Ferguson 251; Brunet III, 828-829; Sabin 4797. (5)
Voyage de La Pérouse Autour du Monde, Publié conformément au décret du 22 Avril 1791, et Rédigé par M. L.A. Milet-Mureau. Paris: Imprimerie de la République, An V [i.e. 1797]. 4 text volumes, 4° (291 x 226mm) and 2° Atlas (570 x 417mm). Text printed on light-blue paper, engraved portrait of La Pérouse after Tardieu, all half-titles, colophon leaf in vol. I-III, vol. IV colophon following index. (First blanks stained at outer edges, I/D4 outer margin torn, paper flaw at outer margin IV/Y2, vol. IV.) Atlas with engraved allegorical title-page by Moreau le Jeune, titled 'Atlas du voyage de La Pérouse' without imprint, and 69 engraved plates: folding world map, 35 views and natural history plates, 20 double-page maps and 13 single-page maps or coastal profiles. (Without the second engraved title or the occasional seventieth plate, a portrait of La Pérouse, one map torn at inner fold, 3 with short tear at lower margin.) Contemporary French mottled calf gilt by Courteval of c. 1797-1809 [vide infra], with his ticket 'COURTEVAL, , RELIEUR, , RUE DES CARMES, n
EXTREMELY FINE FIRST EDITION IN AN IMPORTANT CONTEMPORARY SIGNED FRENCH BINDING of one of the most important scientific explorations ever undertaken to the Pacific and the N.W. American coast, and the first scientific voyage to California. By 1785 France was anxious to share in the riches and lands of the Northwest and so appointed the comte de La Pérouse to command this multi-tasked expedition: to chart all regions not explored by Cook; to search for the North-West Passage; to carry out scientific work; to investigate the fur trade and Spain's settlements in California; and to promote French enterprise. The Astrolabe and Bussole sailed around Cape Horn for Easter Island and Hawaii before heading for the Aleutians and Alaska. Near Yakutat they optimistically named Lituya Bay 'Port des Français' (some excellent views of which are included in the atlas), and continued south to California before crossing the Pacific to China, Japan and Kamchatka. La Pérouse's charts of the Pacific coast of Asia are one of the most significant results of the voyage and he was the first European to safely navigate and chart the Sea of Japan. From Macao, portions of his logs, journals and drawings were sent back to France, and from Kamchatka, Ferdinand de Lessups carried other reports across Siberia to Europe; thus the only records of the expedition were saved. La Pérouse's last entries were sent from Botany Bay, dated February 1788, and after departing from Australia in March, neither men nor ships were ever heard from again. D'Entrecasteaux and Labillardière were unsuccessful on their 1791 search voyage and it was not until 1827 that any trace of La Pérouse was found, by Peter Dillon who was given identifiable objects from the expedition on Vanikoro Reef in the Santa Cruz group. The folio atlas contains superb maps of Russian Asia, Japan, the N.W. Pacific coast, Hawaii, San Francisco and Monterey, and a fine series of plates of these places and of native boat types, modes of living, botanical specimens and birds. The seventieth plate in the atlas noted by Brunet and Lada-Mocarski is the frontispiece portrait of La Pérouse which was reprinted on folio paper and occasionally bound in at the end of the atlas. Hill, Forbes, Ferguson and Sabin list 69 plates for this 1797 atlas, while Sabin lists 70 for the 1798 atlas to the octavo edition. Courteval, the binder of this superb set, is regarded as one of the greatest of his day, working in Paris from about 1796-1836 with his best bindings being made before 1815. His first address was rue des Carmes no. 1, being changed to no. 5 by 1809 (cf. C. Ramsden, French Bookbinders 1789-1848 (London: 1950), p. 59 and L. Gruel Manuel historique et bibliographique de l'amateur de relieures (Paris: 1887), I, p. 73). Therefore, it can be concluded that the bindings are closely contemporaneous with the printing, executed between publication in 1797 and the change of address in 1809. Hill 972; Forbes 272; Lada-Mocarski 52; Ferguson 251; Brunet III, 828-829; Sabin 4797. (5)
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