On the Road Again

First edition in French of the translation, corrections, additions and clarifications, established by Joseph Toussaint Reinaud in 1845, from the Arabic text printed in 1811 under the care of Louis Langlès.
Bradel binding in full marbled paper, original covers preserved, binding signed Thomas Boichot.
Very rare copy without foxing.

First edition of Langlès' translation from German, accompanied by 2 large folding maps on strong paper. Langlès is also responsible for the various notes and the memoir on oases, composed from Arabic authors. Another French edition appeared in 1802 and was made from the faulty English translation. Introduction by William Young, president of the African Society of London. Several memoirs expand the edition: Clarifications on the geography of Africa by Rennel. Memoir on oases. Observations on the language of Syouah. Notice on the Berber language (Conjugation, grammar, vocabulary).

Contemporary half green calf binding. Decorated smooth spine. Gilt title. Split to lower joint at head for 3 cm. Paper losses to marbled paper on lower board. Good copy, very fresh.
Hornemann entered the service of the African Society of London with the mission to complete the discovery of North Africa through Egypt. After learning Arabic, he went to Cairo and met General Bonaparte who facilitated his entry into North Africa. Passing himself off as a Mohammedan merchant, he joined a caravan in 1798, which allowed him to reach the oases of Siwa, Aujilla and Mourzouq. He lived there until June 1799, then he reached Tripoli from where he sent the account of his adventures to London. The British consul in Tripoli was led to think that in June 1803, Hornemann was in Caina (Katsina), in Northern Nigeria, in good health and venerated as a marabout. A report would later say (in 1819) that the explorer had gone among the Nupe people, where he had died.

The rare first French edition, translated by Jean-Baptiste Robinet, after the first English edition published in 1769. Four attractive separate engraved title pages. Changuion catalogue at the end of the third part. The edition shared in Paris with Le Jay appeared a few months later and does not have engraved titles.
Contemporary binding in full marbled brown sheep. Decorated raised-band spine. Beige morocco title label, tobacco morocco volume label. Triple fillet frame on boards. Loss to lower joint at foot of volume I. 3 corners bumped. Handsome copy, fresh overall.
Epistolary novel set in Canada. "The romantic customs of Canada and the manners of its inhabitants are described in this novel with great truth," Revue des Romans (1839). Frances Brooke (1724-1789), English woman of letters, lived in Canada where she had married an Anglican minister. A lieutenant goes to French Canada with the aim of establishing a settlement, and resides in Quebec, Montreal (of which he gives extensive descriptions). The lieutenant undertakes certain journeys in Canada, to New York, and shares his political reflections on the necessity of uniting the French and English, on the customs of the Hurons, etc. Very interesting novel about Canada around 1765 and the different colonies (definitive cession of French Canada to England in 1763).

First edition, illustrated with a title vignette, 6 folding maps and 2 folding plates (sun and moon positions, diagrams); a map of the coasts of Acadia and Isle Royale, one of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, plan of Canseau harbor, the southeastern coasts of Isle Royale, plan of Chibouctou harbor, southeastern point of Acadia, 
Presentation copy with the cipher and arms of Louis XV.
Contemporary binding in full marbled and glazed brown sheep. Spine with raised bands decorated with the repeated cipher of Louis XV. Red morocco title label. Boards stamped with the gilt arms of Louis XV. Triple gilt fillet frame on boards. 2 compartments restored partially effacing the cipher. One restoration at foot. Restorations to joints and corners. 
The work is the most precise hydrographic survey of the eastern coasts of North America that had ever been accomplished. Chabert was appointed to carry out a precise survey of the coasts of Acadia whose contemporary maps were erroneous.
 The first part is an account of the voyage from Brest to Louisbourg and of Chabert's 4 expeditions to coasts foreign to France, to Newfoundland and neighboring islands. The second part contains the observations and astronomical surveys for which the work was highly esteemed and recommended to navigators by the Academy of Sciences. Following the success of the voyage, Chabert was promoted to knight of the Order of Saint-Louis

The rare first edition, illustrated with a folding map.

Contemporary half green sheep binding. Smooth spine decorated with fillets. Gilt title. Tear to headcap with loss. One corner stripped of paper. Rubbing. Trace of pale dampstain on the map and from the first page of text to p. 69 in lower margin, and on the table. Stains on spine.
Physical and human geography of Egypt, Syria, Arabia and India, customs and manners. The volume was published when Bonaparte's Egyptian expedition had just been launched; it evokes the mythical route followed by Alexander the Great, from Egypt to India, a route coveted by the French.

NB: This work is available at the bookshop on request within 48 hours.

Original ink wash drawing. Of pleasant sepia color, in perfect state of preservation. It represents an Italian landscape, executed in the first quarter of the 19th century. The author signed his drawing at lower right.
Rome in the 19th century was a place of convergence for European artists. The finest among them came there to train by copying paintings of Renaissance masters. It was also an opportunity for them to paint or draw the landscapes and nature of Latium.

The rare first edition of these two volumes published two years apart, the continuation of which would never see the light of day. With one frontispiece and one large folding genealogical chart.
Copy with the arms of Louis XV stamped on the boards, and his cipher repeated on the spine, a presentation copy.
Contemporary full marbled brown calf bindings. Spine with raised bands decorated with Louis XV's cipher repeated four times with angular fleurs-de-lys. Red morocco title and volume labels. Armorial boards. Triple gilt fillet frame on boards. Headcaps restored. Several splits along the upper joint of volume I and volume II. Corners and certain areas of the leading edges restored. Lacking the right corner of the first endpaper. Very faint dampstain trace in margin extending onto text from page 217 to the end; from page viiij to xxxviij in margin; similarly on the rear endpapers of volume II. Despite the mentioned defects, a rare copy with the arms and cipher of Louis XV.
The work contains a long introduction that clarifies Chevalier d'Arcq's project as a historian. His critical method of examining texts is scrupulous, he rejects what is not proven and openly aligns himself with the most reliable hypotheses. This method and his work were praised by Le Journal des scavants which reviewed the first book in 1756 then the second in 1758, with numerous compliments, notably on the author's elegant style and his way of creating a vividly colored narrative from stark facts. Beyond history and geography, the author seeks the essentially military aspect and shows how wars, between victories and defeats, have shaped the geography of peoples, and precipitated the end and birth of kingdoms. Volume I deals with Greater and Lesser Armenia (Cappadocia, etc.), the second with the kingdoms around Pontus (Phrygia, Paphlagonia, Heraclea, Pergamon...). Although the work treats a rare ancient history and its reading is fascinating, the book did not meet with success, and the editorial project was not carried through to completion.

First edition, with a frontispiece signed L.F.D.B. Title page in red and black.
Full marbled brown sheep binding. Smooth spine decorated with acorn tools framed by foliage. Red morocco title label. One lack at head. One tear with loss at tail. Corners slightly bumped. Lacking the 2 marbled endpapers at the beginning of the work.
A Turk is sent by his sovereign to the principal courts of Europe to bear witness. The narrator begins his journey through Russia, Moscow and Saint Petersburg, then passes through Poland, finally to Vienna... The letters deal with varied subjects, European affairs, the power of Austria, French affairs, opinions on eunuchs, Amsterdam and the East India Company. The work contains interesting descriptions of the cities visited, dwelling on the customs and history of the peoples, notably the Russians...

French first edition, following the English first edition of 1763.
Copy with the arms of Anne-louis-Alexandre de Montmorency, (D'or à la croix de gueules cantonnée de seize alérions d'azur ordonnés 4 et 4) lieutenant-general of the king's armies, captain of the king's guards.
Contemporary full speckled calf binding. Smooth spine decorated with 5 alérions of the Montmorency family. Arms stamped on covers. Red morocco title label. Rubbing. Spine browned. 2 corners slightly bumped. Browning to margins of half-title and title page, small worming in margins. Handsome copy.
Lady Montagu was the wife of the English ambassador to Constantinople. The principal interest of these letters lies in bearing direct witness to the customs of contemporary Turkey. The accounts contained in the correspondence are fascinating; they are undoubtedly the only feminine testimony about Turkey of that time and about the countries she crossed to reach it, notably Greece and Hungary. She addresses Turkish customs but also life in harems, which she was the first European woman to enter and visit, as well as Moorish baths. Her corset was then so tightly laced that the oriental bathers were convinced it was a sort of torture instrument in which her husband had locked her. Lady Montagu not only envied the nudity of these women, a symbol of emancipation and luxury, but was also seduced by the apparent freedom of certain aspects of their lives. She also seems to have been seduced by love and amorous poetry, and she quotes verses from the sultan to his beloved. The success of these letters was such that the author was nicknamed "the Sévigné of England." Voltaire wrote a relatively favorable review of this work in the literary gazette of 1764, praising the author's erudition and culture: "There reigns above all in Lady Montagu's work a spirit of philosophy and liberty that characterizes her nation."