20 - LA PEROUSE, J.-F. de Galaup de.

LA PEROUSE, J.-F. de Galaup de. La Pérouse’s Voyage Around the World, published in accordance with the decree of April 22, 1791, and edited by M. L. A. Millet-Mureau. Paris, Imprimerie de la République, Year V (1797). 4 volumes of text in-4 and a large folio atlas (57 x 44 cm). Text: (4)-LXXII-346-(2) pp., with an engraved portrait of La Pérouse as a frontispiece; (4)-398-(2) pp.; (4)-422-(2) pp.; (4)-309-(3 bl.) pp. Atlas: an allegorical title-frontispiece engraved after Moreau the Younger and 67 numbered plates out of 69, comprising maps, plans, views, portraits, and natural history illustrations (plates nos. 11 and 66 are missing). Four additional loose plates from the same work are included. Contemporary speckled fawn calf for the text volumes and contemporary half-fawn calf, with reused vellum corner pieces, for the atlas. Gilded stamps bearing the coat of arms of the Literary Society of the City of Nantes on the covers. Worn bindings, scuffing, torn caps, spines missing on two text volumes. Scattered foxing. In the atlas, a large tear without loss running across plate 56; six plates detached, with slightly trimmed margins (nos. 36, 37, and 57–60); faint marginal halos on the last twenty plates. The view of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul has a tear across its width. One map has a soiled and slightly creased fold, with a small marginal loss that does not affect the engraved portion. A small stamp of the Cercle Louis XVI is affixed to nearly all the plates and title pages. First edition of this important account of La Pérouse’s maritime voyage exploring the Pacific. Composed of 4 volumes of text, with a portrait of La Pérouse engraved by Tardieu as the frontispiece of the first volume, and a folio-sized atlas illustrating the voyage. Superb allegorical frontispiece by Moreau the Younger, engraved by Trière, with wide margins. The atlas, entirely mounted on tabs, contains, along with the frontispiece title page by Moreau, 67 plates, including a large fold-out world map, double-page or full-page maps, and plates illustrating views, coastal surveys, natural history elements, scenes of daily life, as well as costumes and portraits of indigenous people. All these plates were engraved in black on copper by Le Pagelet, Thomas, Godefroy, Choffard, Avril, and Legrand, based on compositions by Duché de Vancy, Blondela, Prévost, La Martinière, among others. Published by the Imprimerie Nationale, this edition contains the first print run of the plates, which are exceptionally fine proofs (Chadenat). La Pérouse was chosen by Louis XVI to undertake a major scientific expedition aimed at expanding knowledge, particularly in the Pacific Ocean. The expedition explored various regions, notably Alaska, California, Japan, Korea, and Australia. However, the expedition disappeared after leaving Botany Bay, Australia, in 1788. Since La Pérouse and his crew never returned, Milet-Mureau had access to the logbooks, letters, and maps that had been sent to France during the expedition, which he compiled into this published version. Milet-Mureau’s edition presents the essence of the original observations while organizing them into a coherent narrative. It includes 4 loose plates taken from the same source (engravings of canoes, boats, Manila, Japan, Formosa... 2 plates of California birds (a few spots). In French in the text, 199. Chadenat, I, 106. Sabin 38960.