First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a frontispiece engraved by Lechard after Gibert [Constantine], and a folding map bound at the end (cf. Tailliart 58. Palau 328 502).
A few minor spots of foxing.
Publisher’s binding in full red cloth, spine with black and gilt oriental-inspired decorations, blind-stamped frames on covers, red endpapers slightly faded at the margins, all edges gilt.
Only French edition, highly regarded, of this epistolary account of a journey undertaken in 1878 by the Russian geologist and naturalist Tchihatcheff (1808–1890), whose main interest lay in the natural sciences but who also addressed economic matters, a field dear to his correspondent.
The work is also of particular importance for the traveller’s thoughtful and well-informed observations on the details of French colonial administration in the region.