LA PEROUSE, (JEAN-FRANCOIS de GALAUP).

Voyage de La Pérouse autour du Monde, publié conformément au Décrets du 22 Avril 1791, et rédigé par M.L.A. Milet-Mureau. 4 Vols. + Atlas.

Paris, Plassin, 1798.

8vo. and folio (44 x 30) cm. Textvolumes bound in 4 contemporary half calf. Gilt spines with gilt lettering. Tome-label on volume one eroded. Stamp on title-pages. (4),LXVIII,368;(4),414;316,(120 = Tables);(4),328 pp. A few scattered brownspots. Atlasvolume bound in matching hcalf. Spine gilt and rubbed. Lower compartment of spine with wear and tear. Engraved portrai of Pérouse as frontispiece. Engraved pictorial titlepage with cupids and naviogational instruments (dessinée par Moreau le Jeune) and 69 engraved maps, plans and plates of which 32 are large folded engraved maps. Mild foxing to some parts of some maps, occasionally mild dampstains to some plates, marginal browning and some spotting. One map with a repair to folding.

Second edition of the textvolumes (the first appeared the year before, 1797) and first edition of plates. (69 plates to the first, 70 to the second).

"In 1785, Jean-Francois de Galaup, Comte de la Perouse, began preparations for an extensive sea voyage. His aim was to explore the Pacific regions of North and South America, Asia and Australasia. The sponsor of the expedition was the French king, Louis XVI, who was inspired by Captain James Cook's Pacific voyages. Louis ordered the French expedition to show the world that France could also dominate in ocean exploration. The expedition consisted of two ships - La Boussole and L'Astrolabe. They carried a total of 225 crew, officers and scientists. The ships left France in August 1785 and sailed south around Cape Horn. The voyage was expected to last four years. During the voyage, La Perouse sent back regular reports to France. The expedition mapped coastlines and explored uncharted areas of ocean. The expedition's scientists also spent time onshore at various ports, observing the habits and customs of local people and collecting natural history specimens. The expedition's progess until September 1787 was published by the French government as Voyage de La Perouse autour du monde [La Perouse's voyage around the world]. It was reprinted many times and translated into several languages.  

In 1791, when La Perouse had not returned to France or made any contact by dispatch, the French government sent out a search party. It was commanded by Rear Admiral Joseph Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux and consisted of two ships, Recherche and Esperance.... The complete disappearance of La Perouse caught the imagination of the European public. Songs, stories and plays were written about the possible fate of the expedition, including a popular play called, Perouse, or, The desolate island..... It was not until 1964 that the wreck of La Boussole was finally discovered on Vanikoro's reefs. At last the fate of La Perouse and his crew was known. The expedition is commemorated in the name of a Sydney suburb on the shores of Botany Bay - La Perouse." (State Library of New South Wales, Website).

Sabin, 38960.

Order-nr.: 53622