First and only edition. This copy is one of the rare examples complete with the 64 full-page plates. The work is also illustrated with a title vignette depicting the artist Ambroise-Louis Garneray in a small boat, sketching the entrance to the port of Brest.
Contemporary binding of half tan sheep with corners, smooth spine richly decorated in gilt and blind with multiple large typographic tools, discreet restorations to the joints, marbled-paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.
A magnificent work on the ports of France, and one of the finest collections ever produced on the subject.
The author of these highly precise engravings joined the navy at the age of thirteen and thereby witnessed numerous naval battles. From 1806 he was imprisoned for eight years in Portsmouth, using his captivity to study drawing and painting and to record the scenes he had observed during his voyages. Upon his return from the United Kingdom, Garneray became painter to the Duke of Angoulême, then Grand Admiral of France, later serving as director of the Rouen museum, and entering the Sèvres manufactory where he executed numerous maritime subjects.
His work, of remarkable delicacy and realism, was praised by Melville in Moby-Dick: "Who Garneray the painter is, or was, I know not. But my life for it he was either practically conversant with his subject, or else marvellously tutored by some experienced whaleman. The French are the lads for painting action."