Very rare first run of this fascinating maritime periodical, whose publication, under the direction of the renowned Edouard Corbière (1793-1875), continued until 1838 (a total of 18 issues), before the title was absorbed into the Journal de la marine (see Polak, 6955, who only records and knew of the first volume).
The set is illustrated with 15 plates: 4 lithographed plates hors texte, including one folding plate, for the first volume; 2 hors texte plates, one of them lithographed, for the second; 3 lithographed plates for the third volume; a lithographed frontispiece in each of the following volumes: 4, 5, 6 and 7; and 3 lithographed plates, including a frontispiece, for the eighth volume.
Half olive-green calf with corners, spines slightly darkened, with five raised bands tooled in gilt with floral ornaments in blind and gilt fillets, blind rolls along the edges of the marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns in marbled paper, sprinkled edges, romantic bindings of the period.
Joints cracked and fragile, some head- and tailcaps rubbed or trimmed, occasional foxing.