Voyage dans la partie méridionale de l'Afrique ; fait dans les années 1797 et 1798 (...) ; contenant des observations sur la géologie, la géographie, l'histoire naturelle de ce continent, et une esquisse du caractère physique et moral des diverses races d'habitans qui environnent l'établissement du Cap de Bonne-Espérance. Suivi de la description de l'état présent, de la population, et du produit de cette importante colonie. Traduit de l'anglais, par L. Degrandpré

First edition of the illustrated French translation, embellished in the second volume with a plate, a folding table, and a large folding map printed as a separate leaf (cf. Gay 2996).

Contemporary full mottled fawn calf, smooth spines gilt with fillets, garlands, and floral tools, red morocco title and volume labels, with the volume labels inlaid with green morocco, gilt rolls at the headcaps, minor rubbing to the spines, dentelle, single gilt fillet and gilt garland framing the boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, corners rubbed, gilt fillets to the board edges, lemon edges; bindings of the period.

In 1797, John Barrow (1764–1848) accompanied Lord Macartney, as his personal secretary, on a major and delicate mission: the establishment of a government for the new Cape Colony.

John Barrow was tasked with reconciling the Boers and the Kaffirs, as well as with describing the interior of the country. After travelling throughout the colony, he was appointed Auditor-General of Public Accounts and decided to settle in South Africa.

He married Anne Maria Truter in 1800 and even purchased a house in Cape Town. However, the surrender of the colony following the signing of the Peace of Amiens (1802) disrupted these plans, and he returned to England in 1804.

The plate depicts: "Tête d'unicorne trouvée chez les Boschiman"; the table provides a description of the "bois utiles qui croissent dans la Colonie du Cap de Bonne-Espérance".