Voyage dans l'empire Othoman, l'Egypte et la Perse, fait par ordre du gouvernement, pendant les six premières années de la République. Atlas pour servir au voyage dans l'empire Othoman, l'Egypte et la Perse . [Empire Ottoman]

First and only edition of this major scientific and commercial account devoted to the Ottoman Empire, Egypt and Persia, exceptionally rare complete with its atlas. The first two volumes are dated 1799, Volumes III and IV 1802, and Volumes V and VI 1807, reflecting the eight years required to complete publication of this monumental work. Issued in octavo, the work was also published in a large-paper quarto edition. The atlas, itself in first edition, comprises 50 plates issued in three instalments: the first devoted to the Ottoman Empire (17 plates), the second to Egypt and Persia (plates 18–33), and the third to the journey through Persia proper (plates 34–50). It includes a general map of Greece, the Bosphorus and Thrace, together with maps of the Troad, the Hellespont, Lower Egypt, Syria and Asia Minor, complemented by botanical, costume and natural history plates.

Slightly later bindings, executed circa 1815, in contemporary-style half tan calf, smooth spines richly decorated with three gilt tools and seven series of gilt fillets, pink paper-covered boards. The spines of Volumes II, III and IV are slightly faded; minor surface wear along the upper joints of Volumes II and VI; some rubbing to the boards. A handsome, remarkably fresh copy. The atlas is preserved in a modern half tan calf binding executed as a particularly accomplished period-style facsimile, closely matching the six text volumes in its decorative tools, gilt fillets and paper-covered boards. A faint marginal waterstain affects the lower edge of three plates (36–39), with a few scattered light foxing spots and a crease to the upper corner of several leaves

In 1792, the Revolutionary government entrusted the naturalist and entomologist Guillaume-Antoine Olivier with a mission to gather scientific information while assessing French commercial prospects throughout the Ottoman Empire and Persia. He was accompanied by the physician and naturalist Jean-Guillaume Bruguière, a specialist in molluscs and former participant in Kerguelen-Trémarec's expedition to the Southern Seas. Bruguière remained with the expedition throughout the journey before dying at Ancona on the return voyage, only a few weeks before Olivier reached Paris. In his preface, Olivier makes clear his determination to favour careful observation over the picturesque travel narratives then in vogue, placing the emphasis on accurate geography, natural resources, agricultural production and commerce. After spending six months in Constantinople awaiting the funds required for his expedition, he travelled through the Greek islands for nearly a year before reaching Egypt, where he remained for six months. Recalled to Constantinople, he then proceeded to Persia by way of Beirut, Sidon, Tyre and Baghdad.

Thanks to their medical expertise, Olivier and Bruguière enjoyed favourable receptions throughout their journey, greatly facilitating their travels. They subsequently followed the great Royal Road into Central Asia, crossed Hamadan - the ancient Ecbatana - reached Tehran, recently established as the Shah's capital, and returned to Constantinople on 18 October 1797 with extensive botanical and zoological collections, part of which was probably later incorporated into the collections of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris. Returning to Paris at the end of 1798, Olivier was elected to the Institut de France in March 1800.

Throughout the regions he explored, Olivier consistently went far beyond the conventional framework of geographical description. His observations on landscapes, peoples, agriculture and commerce are complemented by extensive discussions of political history, while his botanical and zoological investigations lend the work a genuinely encyclopaedic character.

A landmark of French scientific travel at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Olivier's account stands at the intersection of the Revolutionary government's diplomatic ambitions, natural history exploration and one of the period's most ambitious cartographic and illustrated publishing enterprises, preserved here with its complete atlas.