Charts and plates to La Pérouse’s voyage.

G.G. & J. Robinson, London, 1798

Atlas to the English edition of the report of the famous voyage around the world by La Pérouse, who – in addition to Bougainville and Cook – contributed decisively to the exploration of the Pacific region. Without the two text volumes.

Description: Contemporary quarter calf with marbled paper boards. Flat spine lettered and decorated in gilt. Quarto: 44 × 28.5 cm; unpag., 1 engr. frontispiece, 1 engr. title page and 67 full-page copper-engraved plates, thereof are: 37 plates and 30 maps (20 fold-outs).

Ref.: Boucher i, p. 149–54; Cox i, 67; Sabin 3896

Condition: Binding a bit scuffed and with a few surface abrasions at edges. Light waterstains to the gutter of first few leaves. Contents occasionally somewhat soiled (more noticeable in the first few leaves), slight tanning at edges. Three small brown spots on plate 29, visible between plates 27–37. Lacking plates #1 (map of the world) and #36 (male and female Partridge of California). Some offsetting from plates. Despite the occasional minor blemish, a good copy.

Notes: La Pérouse (1741–1788[?]) a French naval officer and explorer, was appointed in 1785 to lead a scientific expedition to explore the Pacific. The expedition stopped in Chile, Hawaii, Alaska, California, Mauritius, Réunion, Macau, Japan, Russia and Australia. However, his journey ended tragically. In January 1788, he reached Botany Bay. He sent his final notes to France from there before sailing on towards Tonga in March. When no further reports arrived in France for a long period of time, the first search expedition was launched in 1791. However, it remained unsuccessful. It was not until 1826 that Peter Dillon, an Irish sea captain, proved that the island of Vanikoro was the site of the accident, where the expedition’s ships met a tragic end on the reef.

The first English edition was published in two volumes in octavo format by John Stockdale in London in 1798. Two other translations were published by two different publishers in 1798 and 1799: J. Johnson’s first edition appeared in 1798 and J. Robinson’s in 1799. Regarding these editions, Edward Cox writes in his Reference Guide to the Literature of Travel: “On the unexpected publication of this famous voyage at Paris in the previous year (1797), there was considerable competition among English publishers to bring out the English translation. Three different translations were made and published during 1798–99, and different engravers were employed for making the plates. Stockdale’s appeared first, in June 1798. Robinson’s edition of 1799 is the most esteemed edition in English, later editions being usually based on it.”