A Voyage round the World, in the Years 1785, 1786, 1787, and 1788, by J.F.G. de La Pérouse. Published conformably to the Decree of the National Assembly, of the 22d of April, 1791, and edited by M.L.A. Milet-Mureau ... In Three Volumes. Translated from the French
London, J. Johnson, 1798 [first edition in English]/ 1797.
Octavo, three volumes, xii, 532 pages; x, 498 pages; and viii, 446, 60 (tables) pages, plus a total of 32 plates (21 folding) and 11 maps (10 folding).
Later period-style half calf and marbled papered boards, with contrasting morocco title-labels on the spines, all edges speckled (at a much earlier date); frontispiece portrait of La Pérouse in the first volume moderately waterstained; light tidemarks or foxing to some plates, maps and leaves of text (with minor expert repairs to a handful), and occasional offsetting to leaves adjacent to the plates; overall, a very good set, tastefully conserved.
The first English edition of the voyage around the world that 'was intended to be the French equivalent of Captain Cook's Third Voyage ...'. After leaving Brest in August 1785, the ships 'Boussole' and the 'Astrolabe' visited Easter Island, Hawaii ('the first on-shore visit by Europeans'), Alaska, down the coast of California, to China. 'En route to Kamchatka, La Pérouse was the first explorer to safely navigate and chart the Japana Sea ... At Kamchatka he received instructions to proceed to Australia to assess the British plans with respect to that island continent.... [H]e arrived at Botany Bay, New South Wales, in January 1788, just hours after Governor Phillip had arrived with the First Fleet. La Pérouse's habit of forwarding copies of journals and drawings when opportunity offered ensured their survival. The first portion was forwarded by sea from Macao; the second, comprising the record from Macao to Kamchatka, went overland via Siberia with De Lesseps. The final despatches were sent to France from Botany Bay, Australia. The accomplishments of this voyage have always been overshadowed by the tragic disappearance of the entire expedition, for when the ships departed from Botany Bay on March 10, 1788, they were never heard from again.... It was not until 1827 that Peter Dillon was able to secure physical evidence and a definite solution to the mystery' (Forbes: Hawaiian National Bibliography, 272, the first edition). Forbes 288 (see also 287, where he systematically dismantles the long-held belief that the two-volume quarto edition published by Stockdale in the same year preceded this Johnson edition). [3 items].
Item #129672
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