Histoire de la première Mission catholique au vicariat de Mélanésie

Edition from the year of the original, illustrated with a portrait and 22 plates including 2 maps (cf. Taylor Pacific Bibliography p. 520. Cammack & Saito no. 346. Edridge, Solomon Island Bibliography, p. 250.).

Half purple sheep binding, spine with four raised bands tooled with gilt garlands and decorated double panels, traces of rubbing and restorations to spine and joints, gilt fillet framing the black blind-stamped boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, contemporary binding.

Pleasant internal condition despite occasional foxing.

Rare account of the first Catholic mission in Melanesia, with pages 55 to 75 and 227 to 279 devoted to New Caledonia, and pages 76 to 205 to the Solomon Islands.

Sketch of a vocabulary of the Caledonian language collected by Father Rougeyron at the end of the volume.

The author, then a missionary of the Society of Mary, stayed twice in New Caledonia in 1845. A large part of the work concerns Australia.