Beschreibung:

LA PÉROUSE, Jean-François-(1741-1788?). Voyage de la Pérouse autour du monde . Paris: L'Imprimerie de la République, 1797. A handsome first edition of “one of the finest narratives of maritime exploration ever written” (Howell). La Pérouse, a veteran of the American Revolution and the Seven Years’ War, commanded the Astrolabe and the Boussole on a voyage of discovery into the Pacific. He disappeared at sea after setting out from Botany Bay in 1788; the ships were found wrecked on the reef of Vanikolo thirty-nine years later. This was the first French expedition to visit Alaska and the first non-Spanish European expedition to stay at the Spanish settlements in California. The voyage is especially celebrated for its superb mapping of the Alaskan and Californian coasts. Forbes 272; Hill 972; Howes L-93; Lada-Mocarski 52; Sabin 38960, Streeter sale 3493; Wickersham 6611; Zamorano 49. Four text volumes, quarto (292 x 222mm) and one atlas volume, folio (574 x 416mm). Engraved frontispiece in vol. 1, engraved title in atlas; 69 engraved plates (vol. 1 without half-title and final leaf with imprint). Text volumes: contemporary tree calf gilt, spines flat in compartments divided by green morocco bands, red morocco lettering- and numbering pieces, edges gilt (vol. 1: small repair on lower joint, endpapers renewed); atlas: 19th-century half calf over decorated boards. Provenance : Joseph Bonaparte (1768-1844, King of Naples and Spain; "Bibliotheque de Morfontaine" ex-libris in vols. 2-4) – R. S. Fox (bookplate vols 1-4) – PBA Galleries.