La Mer des Sargasses. Manuscrit complet de 50 pages

Complete autograph manuscript of 50 pages, written on the recto of each leaf and containing numerous deletions and revisions.

The manuscript was published in the December 1872 issue of the Bulletin de la Société de Géographie.

Full red shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt fleurons and double gilt panels adorned with floral tools, double gilt fillets on the boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt dentelle border on the pastedowns, gilt edges on the boards, corners rubbed, contemporary binding.

The leaves are numbered 1 to 50 in the upper left corner; an earlier numbering, struck through, appears in the upper margin.

The study is divided into three parts:

• - History of the Sargasso Sea (pp. 2–15).
• - Geography of the Sargasso Sea (pp. 16–38).
• - Resources of the Sargasso Sea (pp. 39–50).

The first part traces the history of navigation in the Sargasso Sea from the Phoenicians, who were the first to report floating banks of algae in the Atlantic. They were followed by the Carthaginians, Arabs, and Portuguese. But it was Christopher Columbus who, in 1492, provided the first serious observations of this maritime phenomenon. Gaffarel then refers to the voyages of Gonneville, Jean de Léry, and André Thévet, cites Humboldt, and finally discusses recent scientific explorations: in 1851–1852 by the campaign of the Dolphin, Captain Lee, and in 1855 by that of the brig Méléagre, Captain Leps.

In the second part, the author examines the geography of the Sargasso Sea, noting that its extent and boundaries have always remained uncertain. He then develops three hypotheses regarding their origin, the most plausible being that the sargassum forms around the Gulf Stream, whose warm and relatively calm waters offer favourable conditions for its proliferation. The text then discusses the different species of sargassum, their mode of growth, and their accumulation, which created the strange appearance that once frightened early navigators.

Finally, the author considers the resources of the Sargasso Sea: by analogy with the harvesting of seaweed along the French coasts—where, once reduced to ash, it provides an excellent fertiliser—one might imagine exploiting the algae of the Sargasso Sea for the extraction of mineral substances, though this would require specially equipped vessels. He concludes: “La mer des Sargasses est donc une véritable région promise.

Tous, plus ou moins, directement ou non, agriculteurs pour nos champs, malades pour nos santés, industriels pour nos usines […] citoyens pour notre patrie, nous n’avons qu’à gagner à l’exploitation des richesses inconnues de cette mer…” (p. 50).

Bound at the end:

• GAFFAREL (Paul). La mer des Sargasses. Paris, Ch. Delagrave et Cie, 1873, 8vo, 35 pp., original wrappers preserved, autograph annotations in the margins. Offprint from the Bulletin de la Société de Géographie, December 1872.
• - MAUNOIR (Charles), geographer. 2 autograph letters signed [to Paul Gaffarel]. Paris, 1872, 5 pp., 8vo, on printed letterhead. Concerning the publication of Gaffarel’s paper in the Bulletin de la Société de Géographie and its communication to Commander Leps, who “possède des trésors au sujet de la physique des mers”.
• - LEPS (Maurice Edouard), captain. 2 autograph letters signed [to Paul Gaffarel]. Paris, 1872, 2 pp., 8vo. Thanks for the sending of the memoir and transmission to Gaffarel of the notes taken by Leps during the 1855 campaign of the Méléagre.
• - DELAGRAVE (Maison). 6 signed or autograph letters signed to Paul Gaffarel. Paris, 1872–1875, 6 pp., 8vo, on printed letterheads. Publication of “La Mer des Sargasses” in the Bulletin de la Société de Géographie and sending of offprints to the author. Two letters are signed by the publisher Charles Delagrave.
• - 2 press articles mounted on the rear endpapers, and another inserted loosely. Marseille and n.p., 1873–1918, 5 pp. of various formats. Concerning Gaffarel’s memoir on the Sargasso Sea. A historian, Paul Gaffarel (Moulins, 1843 – Marseille, 1920) was Doctor of Letters, agrégé of the University, and a member of the Société de Géographie. He published numerous works, notably on the French colonies and the discovery of America. A fine and rare ensemble.