Voyage de découvertes, a l'océan pacifique du nord, et autour du monde, Entrepris par ordre de sa Majesté britannique; Exécuté, pendant les annèes 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794 et 1795, par le capitaine George Vancouver; Traduit de l'anglais par P. F. Henry; Et accompagné d'un Atlas composé de diverses planches et de cartes géographiques
Six volumes. Paris: Didot jeune, An X (i.e., 1801/2). Second edition in French.
Octavo (7 11/16” x 4 ¾”, 196mm x 121mm).
Vol. I: π6 1-218 224 (224 blank) [$1 signed; 1 mis-signed “2”]. 179 leaves, pp. [4] (half-title, booksellers, title, blank) i ij-viij, 1 2-341, 3 blanks (224 pasted to the marbled end-paper).
Vol. II: π2 1-248 [$1 signed]. 194 leaves, pp. [4] (half-title, booksellers, title, blank), 1 2-384.
Vol. III: π2 1-248 (248 blank) [$1 signed]. 194 leaves, pp. [4] (half-title, booksellers, title, blank), 1 2-381, 3 blanks (248 pasted to the marbled end-paper).
Vol. IV: π2 1-238 [$1 signed]. 186 leaves, pp. [4] (half-title, booksellers, title, blank), 1 2-368.
Vol. V: π2 1-278 284 (284 blank) [$1 signed]. 222 leaves, pp. [4] (half-title, booksellers, title, blank), 1 2-438, 2 blanks (284 pasted to the marbled end-paper).
Vol. VI: binder’s blank, π2, binder’s blank. 2 leaves, pp. [4] (half-title, advice to the binder, title, blank). With 26 engraved plates: 17 views, 1 chart and 8 folding charts.
Bound in contemporary sprinkled calf with a blind fillet border. Spines in six panels. Title and author gilt to red sheep in the second panel, number gilt to red sheep in the fourth. Tools of three-masted ships gilt to the first and sixth panels. Gilt fillet to the edges of the boards. Marbled end-papers. All edges of the text-block sprinkled red and glazed yellow. Rose silk marking ribbons.
Worming to the hinges, as well as to the rear board of vol. VI. Some rubbing at the lower edges, with loss at the lower fore-corners of voll. I and VI. Damp to the fore of vol. VI, with fraying and some loss to the fore-edge of the text-block (not affecting the images). Loss to the lower fore-corner of the half-title of vol. II (not affecting the text). Scattered quires tanned. Half-title to voll. III and IV tanned and offset from the turn-ins. An utterly unsophisticated set.
The Voyage of Vancouver (1757–1798) ranks with those of Captain Cook (with whom he sailed) and of La Perouse and became one of the most important made in the interests of geographical knowledge. HMS Discovery was commissioned in 1790 with Vancouver in command. He was made commander of a grand-scale expedition to reclaim Britain’s rights, resulting from the Nootka Convention, at Nootka Sound. He thoroughly examined the coast south of 60 degrees North latitude in order to find a possible passage to the Atlantic, and to learn what establishments had been founded by other powers. His assignment was both diplomatic and exploratory. The voyage was initially published in English, Vancouver being a British citizen and acting on behalf of the Crown.
Despite the ongoing conflicts between the English and French, the market in France for the results of Vancouver’s explorations was robust enough to justify a translation, first published in 1799 in quarto with a folio atlas. The present work is the second edition in French, the translation now attributed to “P.F. Henry” and produced in the far more economical octavo format. The atlas volume being in the same format as the rest of the text, sets of this edition are more often found complete, but seldom entirely unsophisticated as here. The grand multi-part charts of the Pacific Northwest are reproduced at a smaller scale, making the work far more usable.
Sabin 98441; not in Hill.
Item #JLR0652
Price: $6,500