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BROSSES, Charles de (1709-1777). Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes . Paris: Chez Durand, 1756.
BROSSES, Charles de (1709-1777). Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes . Paris: Chez Durand, 1756. 2 volumes, 4 o (251 x 195 mm). Errata leaves. 7 engraved folding maps at end of vol. 2, 6 by Robert de Vaugondy including the world map centered on the Pacific, woodcut head- and tail-pieces. (Some pale staining in gathering G of vol. 2.) Contemporary French mottled calf, spines gilt, brown morocco lettering pieces (some drying, joints a bit rubbed). Provenance : Prince Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Pérgord (armorial bookplate and ink stamp of his castle library at Valençay). FIRST EDITION OF A COLLECTION OF VOYAGES TO THE GREAT SOUTHERN CONTINENT, with leaves 437*-450* (containing the details of the discoveries of the Dutch in Australasia, not always present). This important work was compiled by Charles de Brosses, the noted historian and contributor to Diderot's Encyclopédie ; John Callandar based much of his 3-volume compendium of voyages in 1766 (see lot 88) on de Brosses's summary of Pacific voyages to date. This thorough collection is one of the outstanding works on the early voyages of exploration to Australasia, 1502-1764, during which navigators touched on the supposed southern continent of Magellanica. In three parts--Magellanie, Australasie and Polynesie--it covers the voyages of Vespucci, Magellan, Drake, Sarmiento, Hawkins, Quirós, Noort, Spilbergen, Nodal, Schouten, Dampier, Roggeveen, Anson and others. de Brosses's goal in publishing this history of voyages was to stimulate French discovery and colonization in the South Seas, and included the proposition that France should settle Australia as a penal colony. Hill 190; Kroepelien 132; Landwehr (VOC) 270; Sabin 8388; Spence 190. (2)