[LA PEROUSE] Découvertes dans la mer du sud. Nouvelles de M. de La Peyrouse, jusqu'en juin 1794. Traces de son passage trouvées en diverses isles et terres de l'Océan Pacifique ; grande isle peuplée d'émigrés français

Very rare first edition (cf Dunmore, p. 16. Ferguson, 225. Forbes, Hawaiian National Bibliography, 285. Gove, The Imaginary Voyage in Prose Fiction, pp. 397-8. Kroepelien, 283. McLaren, 269. Sabin, 38958. Missing from Negley, Utopian literature, and the Dictionary of literary utopias.)

Binding in full marbled calf, smooth spine adorned with compartments and floral gilt motifs, red morocco title label, gilt roulettes on the headbands (partially faded) and on the edges, binding of the period.

A tear with loss on the spine, small crack at the foot of one joint, rubbing on the joints, some foxing, a moisture stain on the first endpaper fading on the following pages, light halos at the foot of some pages.

The disappearance of La Pérouse caused great concern in France, and many writers used this mystery as the basis for utopias and fantastic tales about a possible survival of the crew in the South Seas.

A fictitious account. The greater portion is devoted to the description of a supposed island in the South Seas, inhabited by a community of refugees who had escaped the horrors of the French Revolution, and had established a republic there on socialist principles (Ferguson).

Davidson considers it a desirable addition either to a collection of La Pérouse items, or to a library of fictitious voyages.

The uncertainty regarding the publication date of this rare book (Ferguson, Sabin, and Kroepelien give 1795, while Gove and the Library of Congress catalog give 1798) was eventually resolved by the discovery of a contemporary advertisement by David Forbes confirming the first date.