Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes, contenant ce que l'on sçait des moeurs & des productions des Contrées découvertes jusqu'à ce jour; & où il est traité de l'utilité d'y faire de plus amples découvertes, & des moyens d'y former un établissement
Paris, Chez Durand, 1756.
Quarto, two volumes, [ii], xiv, 436, 437*-450*, 437-463; and [ii], 514 pages plus 7 folding maps by Robert de Vaugondy (most with some hand-colouring). There are numerous cancelled leaves, generally marked with a dagger; one leaf in Volume I (Fiii), is present in both states (several trifling typographical changes are made in the cancel, but at least one error is introduced). Lacking the terminal errata leaves (not present in all copies).
Early full mottled calf; edges marbled; covers worn; joints cracking (but firm); old restoration at the foot of the spine of Volume I; occasional foxing and tanning internally (generally inoffensive); three maps with a small stain about the top edge, one slightly shaved at the top border; a few unobtrusive marks (for instance, where the edge marbling encroaches into the margins) and other mild signs of age and handling; a very good set.
'This is an extremely important and thorough collection of voyages, and one of the outstanding works relating to the early history of Australasia. It contains an account of all voyages, beginning with the second expedition of Vespucci in 1502 and ending in 1747, in which navigators touched upon the supposed southern continent of Magellaniea [sic], which is now represented by Australia and some scattered islands in the Antarctic regions. It also contains the voyages of Magellan, Drake, Hawkins, the Nodals, Schouten, Tasman, and others' (Hill 190). De Brosses's compilation is further notable for his proposal to found penal colonies in the southern lands (a decade before Callander's 'Terra Australis Cognita'), and his coinage of the toponyms 'Australasie' and 'Polynésie'. The folding maps are by Robert de Vaugondy; of particular Australian interest are the 'Carte réduite de l'Australasie', and the map of New Guinea and parts of Northern Australia (here both attractively hand-coloured). The important series of asterisked leaves in Volume I (pages 437*-450*), not found in all copies, is headed 'Suite de l'article XXVI: Sur les découvertes des Hollandois dans l'Australasie'. Provenance: Engraved armorial bookplates of J.R. Scott on the front pastedowns (featuring a stag and the motto 'Amo', and with an added manuscript shelfmark). Earlier ownership signatures of 'Jno. Bairne, Engineer' in both volumes, with his acquisition details in the first (indicating that he purchased the set from a 1804-5 catalogue of London bookseller James Lackington). Wantrup 2.15; Hill 190. [2 items].
Item #145387
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