BROSSES, Charles de

Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes containing what was known about the customs and productions of the discovered regions up to this day; & where it is treated of the utility of making further discoveries & of the means of establishing a settlement there. Paris, Durand, 1756. 2 volumes in-4 (275 x 205 mm) of 1 f.n.ch. of title, XIV, 463, 4 pp. (errata), 3 engraved folding maps (numbered I to III) for volume I; title, 513, 2 pp. (errata), 4 engraved folding plates (numbered IV to VII) for volume II. Marbled calf, spine ornamented, marbled edges (period binding). Sabin, 8388; O'Reilly, 93; Hill, 190. First edition, copy on large paper. This is the best work on the South Seas in the middle of the 18th century: de Brosses synthesizes the different accounts of travelers, which he quotes extensively, from Vespucci's second voyage in 1502 to the voyages of Magellan, Drake, Schouten, Tasman, etc. "His study marks a date in the knowledge of Oceania (...) de Brosses... beat, around the Southern Lands, the recall of the scientists and helped to create a climate favorable to the scientific explorations and the colonial installations. His work is essential for the ancient history of Oceania" (O'Reilly). Second edition, preferable to the first one, published the same year without illustrations, whereas this one contains 7 large maps. O'Reilly specifies that: "Two editions. The first without maps and without errata. The second, with 7 folded cards and an errata". The seven beautiful numbered maps show; 1. general map representing the Indian, Pacific, Atlantic and mainly the southern world. 2. reduced map of Southern Polynesia. 3. Map of the Strait of Magellan and the Falkland Islands. 4. Reduced map of Australasia. 5. Part of Australasia which includes the Papuan land or New Guinea, and New Britain. 6. Map of the Papuan Islands. 7. Map of the Caroline Islands. Provenance: Talleyrand (ex-libris of Valençay castle and wet stamp). Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754-1838) was a famous French statesman and diplomat. His exceptional diplomatic career was crowned by brilliant maneuvers during the Congress of Vienna, organized by the victors of Napoleon between September 1814 and June 1815. A complete copy of the pages 437* to 450* bound in the second volume devoted to the "Discoveries of the Dutch in Australasia", which are often missing. It also contains the rare 4 pp. errata for the first volume, unknown to O'Reilly who mentions only the 2 pp. of the second volume. A good copy with very wide margins, one map reinserted.