Signed manuscripts by scholars, doctors, naturalists, signed scientific autographs

First edition, illustrated with 10 large folding plates hors texte.

First part: Cochinchina; section covering exclusively Cochinchina (the second part, devoted to Annam and Tonkin, bears the Hanoi imprint), published since 1889 as a continuation of the Annuaire de la Cochinchine (1865–1888).

It was only in 1899 that the two separate parts of this colonial directory were merged to form the Annuaire général de l'Indo-chine française (1899–1925), which later became the Annuaire administratif de l'Indochine (1926–1943).

Spine ends repaired with adhesive reinforcements; a scratch to the upper cover with minor marginal tears.

Rare.

Very rare original edition printed in a very limited number of copies of this excerpt from the Annales des Sciences naturelles of April 1825 (cf. Ronsil, Bibliogr. ornithologique française, 2476.)

Missing at the Bn.

Copy presented under a plain blue waiting cover.

A stain on several leaves, a word corrected in ink on page 7.

Quoy and Gaimard were naturalists of the expedition of discoveries around the world commanded by Captain Freycinet.

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece by Ozanne depicting the frigate *L’Aurore*, engraved by Haussard, four plates of instruments, and one folding map at the end of the volume (cf. Polak 2098).

Contemporary-style binding in bronze half calf, flat spine decorated with double gilt fillets, bronze morocco title label with some rubbing, marbled paper boards, modern binding.

In 1767, Coutanvaux was commissioned by the Académie des Sciences to undertake a voyage to the North to test various marine timekeeping systems.

Some light foxing, not affecting the text.

First and only edition, illustrated with 12 plates including 8 lithographed views and 4 folding tables.

Contemporary half calf binding with corners, spine decorated with triple gilt fillets and large blind-stamped fleurons, minor losses at foot of joints, marbled paper boards scuffed with some surface loss, corners worn, edges sprinkled blue.

Scattered light foxing, mostly at the beginning and end of the volume.

This text constitutes the first draft of what would become, in 1835, the major work Description de Moscou.

The folding map that complements this work was only published in 1825 and is not, strictly speaking, part of this edition.

Lecointe de...

Very rare first edition.

Two small losses to the head and foot of the spine, printed wrappers slightly soiled.

The presentation of the report is signed by the Marquis de Lafressange, Antony Androuët, the Viscount de Mazenod, and Louis Lapierre.

Second edition, illustrated with two large folding maps mounted on tabs (cf. Polak 1755).

Bradel binding in full marbled pink paper-covered boards, spine sunned with losses. Title and shelving labels affixed at head and foot of spine. Some scratches and paper losses to the boards, minor abrasions and small chips to the edges. Contemporary binding.

In addition to his significant maritime and political activity since the Seven Years’ War, Charles-Pierre Claret de Fleurieu (1738–1810) was the inventor of the first marine chronometer.

Printed stamp of the Imprimerie de la République at the foot of the title page.

Very rare first edition printed in Algiers at Charles Zamith & Cie (Not listed in Tailliart. No copy recorded in the CCFr).

Minor, unavoidable rust marks around the staples, otherwise a handsome copy.

This perpetual Muslim calendar through to the end of time, with the exact concordance of the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and a simple and easy method for converting dates for every day of the week, from the Hijri year to the year 2660, composed and calculated in accordance with the rules of Muslim astronomers was written by Bernard-Marius Cazeneuve (1838–1913).

A fascinating character: an internationally renowned illusionist, art collector, and scientist...

New edition. "American Imprints" 28030. See Lowndes II, 298 for the first edition: "Liveliness of description of scenery and manners, couched in an easy and elegant style…"

Contemporary half havana shagreen with corners, spine decorated with gilt fillets and fleurons, rubbed beige morocco label, a few minor scuffs along the spine. Gilt garland borders framing the marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns of rose paper lightly soiled at margins, marbled edges. Late 19th-century binding.

Some occasional foxing.

A good copy.

Rare first edition including a general map of Africa, compiled from the most reliable observations and the latest discoveries, as well as 8 finely engraved plates (cf. Clozel 505; Gay 2897).

The 8 illustrations comprise: one folding view, three folding maps and plans, a key chart for the plan of Gorée, and three portraits of indigenous figures.

Some restorations and water stains affecting a few leaves.

Contemporary half calf binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt garlands, floral tools, and urns; red morocco title and volume labels, marbled edges.

Born in Colmar, Sylvain-Meinrad-Xavier de Golbéry (1742–1822) spent his entire military career in the Corps of...

First edition of the French translation by A.J.B. Defauconpret (see Sabin 73385).

Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author in the first volume, and in the second volume with a folding map and two plates depicting a view of the Victory and a view of the Filson Islands.

Contemporary green half calf bindings, flat spines decorated with triple gilt fillets, rubbed headcaps, joints slightly split at the head, green paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, corners of the first volume slightly bumped.

Some foxing.

First edition of the French translation established by Lallemant, illustrated with 3 folding maps with hand-colored outlines (cf. Gay 2788).

Bradel binding in full pink paper boards, smooth spine with laterally mounted paper title labels, contemporary binding.

Headcaps trimmed, some wear to the edges, marginal soiling on the lower cover, occasional foxing throughout.

Scottish surgeon and explorer Mungo Park (1771–1806) reached Pisania (Gambia) during a first expedition to Africa (1795–1797), where he stayed for a time to gather information on the Mandingo people and language. He then continued his journey to the Niger River, ascending it as far as upstream from Ségou...

First edition of this biography of the renowned explorer.

Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait and a folding lithographed map bound at the end of the volume.

Copy preserved in a plain temporary wrapper.

Some light foxing, traces of damp-staining along the lower edge of all leaves.

Rare.

Very rare first edition of the French translation, partially unpublished, enriched with historical, geographical, and botanical notes, as well as a notice on ancient and modern Cyrenaica, the Kingdom of Fezzan, Timbuktu, the oasis of Siwah (the ancient Ammon Oasis and the Temple of Jupiter), the desert wind, the sacred ibis, the lotus, Egyptian papyrus, and the silphium so highly prized by the Ancients.

Illustrated with 8 plates and 1 folding map out of text.

Not recorded by Gay. Bourquelot V, 657 mentions only 7 plates and 1 map.

Contemporary-style binding in black half calf, flat spine decorated with double blind fillets, marbled paper boards, red edges. Modern binding...

New edition printed in 250 copies at the government's expense, intended to provide work for typographic workers (cf. Sabin 11841. Leclerc 697).

Contemporary half blue calf bindings, flat spines decorated with double gilt fillets and blind-stamped typographic motifs, gilt decorative rolls at foot of spines, restored with minor rubbing to the spines, marbled paper boards, hand-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges.

Some occasional light foxing.

A rare copy, handsomely bound in contemporary bindings.

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece, 6 folding maps, 24 plates out of text, and 95 in-text reproductions.

Bradel binding in full blue cloth, cherry shagreen title label, original wrappers and spine preserved.

The botanist and biologist Auguste Chevalier (1873–1956) undertook numerous expeditions to Africa, Asia, and South America after earning his doctorate in 1901.

A handsome copy.

Inscribed and signed by Auguste-Jean-Baptiste Chevalier to Madame P. Lemoine at the head of the title page.

First edition, illustrated with 18 copper-engraved plates in the first volume and 22 copper-engraved plates in the second.

Contemporary bindings in green half shagreen, spines with four raised bands, decorated with blind-ruled fillets and double gilt panels with ornamental cornerpieces; minor rubbing to the spines, boards in green paper-covered cardboard with blind-stamped frames and a few minor surface abrasions, heavily bumped corners. Endpapers and pastedowns of white moiré silk slightly soiled at margins as often, all edges gilt.

Foxing.

A compilation of selected excerpts from the most celebrated travel narratives.

Jacques-Bernard Hombron (1798–1852), a naval...

Rare first edition (cf. Quérard IV, 457. Not listed in Gay.)

Bradel binding in full paper-covered boards marbled by hand, smooth spine, red morocco title label, minor stains in the lower margins of the first two pages.

The renowned astronomer explores the Niger and the feasibility of crossing Africa from Senegal to the Red Sea.

First edition, illustrated with a folding map bound at the end (cf. Quérard I 529).

Copy preserved in its original plain green wrappers,

uncut, some foxing to the map.

"Tableau des stations géodésiques et astronomiques choisies pour déterminer la mesure de l'arc du parallèle terrestre compris entre les tours de Cordouan et de Fiume, et qui doit s'étendre jusqu'à Orsowa en Transilvanie".

Inscribed and signed by Joseph-François Nicollet on the title-page, addressed to a Monsieur Pouillet.

First edition, illustrated with 6 photographic plates and 2 folding maps.

This is the text of a lecture given at the Norwegian Geographical Society on 22 September 1937.

A very good copy.

Second edition of the French translation, expanded with a few remarks and illustrated with a map of the North Atlantic and 9 folding plates outside the text (natural history, views, Inuit types, etc.), cf. Sabin 22312n. "European Americana" 750/110. See Leclerc 717 for the first French edition published a year earlier.

The plates are captioned in both French and Dutch; the original English edition was published in London in 1748; the first French edition appeared in Paris in 1749.

The work opens with a historical account of earlier attempts to discover a route to the East Indies via the Northwest Passage.

Contemporary binding in full marbled calf, spine with gilt...

Rare first edition, illustrated with a folding map bound at the end of the volume (cf. Backer & Sommervogel VIII, 827).

Only one copy recorded in the CCF (BnF).

Contemporary full black shagreen binding, spine with four raised bands adorned with blind-ruled fillets, minor rubbing to spine, covers framed with double and single blind fillets with corner volutes, some rubbing to covers, bumped corners, sprinkled edges.

Father Benito Viñes [Poboleda (Tarragona) 1837 – Havana 1893] arrived in Havana in 1870, where he was appointed director of the magnetic and meteorological observatory, a position he held until his death. His studies on Caribbean hurricanes remain...

First edition of the French translation established by P. Arsène Mousqueron, an employee of the French telegraph administration, with the collaboration of Manuel Rouaud y Paz Soldan.

Contemporary black half shagreen, spine with four raised bands decorated with blind-ruled fillets, restored to spine and joints, black paper-covered boards framed with blind tooling, yellow paper endpapers and pastedowns.

Some minor foxing.

This highly detailed geography of each Peruvian province also includes studies on the country's production and trade, merchant navy, political education, and territorial organization.

First edition of the French translation, revised under the author's supervision, by Joseph Lavallée, of this highly regarded travel account.

The atlas includes 16 plates depicting views and natural history subjects, 12 pages of engraved music, and 1 folding map (cf. Monglond VI 729–730).

Contemporary bindings in half blond calf over green vellum-tipped boards, smooth spines decorated with gilt tooling, yellow edges, for the three text volumes.

Contemporary binding for the atlas in half green sheep with vellum tips, smooth spine decorated with triple gilt fillets, soft green paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

Wormholes on title pages, scuffed...

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece portrait, two folding colour maps, and 34 plates outside the text.

Publisher’s binding in full green percaline, flat spine decorated with blind-stamped panels and fillets, gilt date at foot; some rubbing to one joint, slightly frayed, cold-stamped frame on covers, brown paper endpapers and pastedowns, corners slightly bumped.

Inscribed, dated and signed on the front free endpaper as a gift.

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with two folding plates hors texte.

This is an abridged translation (unusually, this is stated) of the major work Reise durch Sibirien, published in Göttingen in 1751–1752 in four quarto volumes richly illustrated. It recounts a major scientific expedition to Siberia that took place from July 1733 to February 1743. Johann Georg Gmelin (1709–1755) held the chair of chemistry and natural history at the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

Despite the erratic pagination of the second volume, the set is complete.

Contemporary full marbled tan calf, flat spines decorated with gilt compartments, red morocco title...

New edition, the most comprehensive to date, illustrated with 300 engravings, several maps, and followed by 18 appendices (cf. Cordier, Japonica, 694).

The original edition was published in 1899.

Contemporary half havana sheep binding, corners tipped with the same, smooth spine sunned and rubbed, decorated with blind fillets and floral tools, blind-tooled garland framing the bordeaux cloth boards, black paper endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges.

Some minor foxing mainly affecting the endpapers, otherwise a clean and well-preserved copy.

Our copy lacks the atlas of 11 maps, which was not ready in time for printing, as stated on a slip mounted on the first...

First edition, exceptionally rare, of this magnificent album of views of Guadeloupe, illustrated with twelve lithographs executed by Émile Vernier after drawings by Armand Budan: an engraved title-frontispiece and eleven plates, including a large folding panoramic view of Pointe-à-Pitre.

Large folio (39.6 × 54 cm). Collation: 3 unnumbered leaves comprising the title, preface and half-title Karukera, pp. [3]-44, one blank leaf, the lithographic title-frontispiece and eleven lithographic plates.

Uncommon first edition containing highly interesting observations on life aboard the Newfoundland fishing vessels (cf. Sabin 11020).

The chapters on whaling and seal hunting were overlooked by Thiébaut, Jenkins, and Vaucaire.

The author, Constant-Jean-Antoine Carpon (1803–1872), was a medical officer and surgeon in the merchant navy. He began his career in 1826 and continued until 1865, taking part in numerous fishing expeditions to Newfoundland.

Contemporary quarter maroon paper binding, flat spine slightly faded and decorated with blind-stamped fillets, brown paper boards with minor rubbing.

Some light foxing.

Inscribed by Constant-Jean-Antoine...

First edition, illustrated with 5 lithographed plates outside the text, each featuring multiple figures (Not listed in Sabin).

Bound in modern half beige calf, smooth spine decorated with gilt and black fillets, black morocco title label, marbled paper boards, restored and preserved original printed wrappers bound in. Binding signed by the Laurenchet workshop.

Some occasional spotting.

All published: the renowned anthropologist had planned a work in two or perhaps three volumes gathering his observations made during travels in Alaska.

The plates depict fossils, bones of sea otters and American brockets, mollusks, and more. Contributions include studies and...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with one frontispiece plate in the first volume: "Infantrymen of Sindh in their battle dress", and a large folding map in the second volume: "Map of Beluchistan and Sindh, including parts of Cutch, Seistan, Khorasan, Persia, &c., drawn by Henry Pottinger, Lieutenant of the 7th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry, in 1814" (cf. Quérard VII, 300).

Contemporary full green calf bindings, faded smooth spines gilt with fillets and small ship motifs, gilt rolls on slightly rubbed caps, gilt dentelle frames on covers, marbled endpapers lightly soiled at the edges, bookplates pasted on the front pastedowns, corners bumped...

Illustrated with a facsimile letter as frontispiece and a folding map at the end of the volume (cf. Sabin, 80002 and 25852).

Only one copy listed in the CCF (BnF).

Contemporary binding in red half shagreen, spine with five raised bands framed by gilt dotted rules, gilt triple compartments, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

Traces of damp to the beginning of the volume, with clumsily restored paper margins to the upper right corners of some leaves, occasional foxing.

Previously published as the fourth volume in French’s major series, Historical collection of Louisiana, this compilation concerning the exploration of the Mississippi...

Rare first edition of this important geographical and ethnographic account, intended to provide insight into the conflict between the Afghans and the British, the latter seeking to protect their Indian frontiers from the threat posed by the Russian Empire (cf. Bourquelot V, 637).

This copy retains the folding map bound at the end of the volume: "Carte pour l'intelligence des voyages d'Alexandre Burnes".

Spine faded with small losses, boards lightly soiled at the margins, paper loss to the lower left corner of the half-title page, some scattered foxing.

The author based his work on Elphinstone’s account, whose second edition appeared in 1838, as well as the...

New edition of the French translation, reissued for sale with a substitute title, of this anonymous account first printed in 1793 (Schwab, 612. Barbier, IV, 1097e. Quérard, Supercheries, I, 606e.).

The translation is by Louis Matthieu Langlès and François Joseph Noël.

Contemporary full tree calf, smooth spine with gilt-decorated compartments, gilt fillet at foot, joints rubbed, spine ends worn, maroon morocco title label, endpapers and pastedowns lightly soiled at margins, corners bumped.

The work includes a description of the principal towns and regions visited during the journey from Bengal to Persia: Ceylon, Goa, Bombay, Muscat, Oman, Bushehr, Shiraz, followed by...

Rare first French edition of the travel impressions of Prince Soltykoff, more an adaptation than a strict translation (cf. Vicaire, VII, 575. Schwab, 544. Only two copies listed in the CCF).

Illustrated with a two-tone lithographed frontispiece and 20 tinted lithographic plates by Trayer and Émile Beau after drawings by the author.

Contemporary green half-shagreen binding, flat spine decorated with double gilt fillets and broad blind-stamped fillets, dark green paper-covered boards, minor restorations and rubbing to head and foot of joints, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, period binding.

Some superficial wear and very faint foxing, otherwise a pleasant copy in...

Very rare first edition illustrated with 40 lithographs (cf. Colas 1581, Mayfair, Algeria, 751, Tailliart, 1001, *Iconographie de l'Algérie*).

A few minor spots of foxing; the front free endpaper is slightly creased at the margin, not affecting the text.

The 40 plates, printed on 37 leaves, are arranged as follows: 37 black lithographs including one plan and one folding map (plates 11–12, [37–38], and [39–40] are printed on single leaves).

Among the rarest and most beautiful illustrated albums devoted to Algeria, this edition comprises 40 lithographic plates printed in black across 37 leaves. The map of the Regency of Algiers and the views of Algiers and Constantine...

First edition, illustrated with 7 plates: a plan of Fort William and a large folding view of Calcutta in the first volume; 5 folding plates in the second volume (including 3 views of Mocha and its surroundings), see Gay 3317bis.

Contemporary full tree calf bindings, smooth spines decorated with gilt fillets, floral tools and geometric patterns, now largely faded, red morocco title-pieces, green bottle-morocco volume labels, some wear to joints, marbled endpapers, red-speckled yellow edges.

Rubbing to the spines, split to one joint.

Rare sole edition of one of the author's two travel accounts. A naval officer and son of a slave trader from Saint-Malo, Louis Ohier de...

First edition, illustrated with a folding map and 11 tinted lithographic plates (cf. Gay 3137).

Contemporary half aubergine sheep, smooth spine ruled and lettered in gilt, some rubbing to hinges, one joint fragile, marbled paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers, speckled edges.

Some repairs to the spine, occasional foxing.

Arbousset, a Protestant missionary and explorer, recounts the discovery of the Mont des Sources and offers vivid descriptions of the peoples among whom he lived: Bastaards or mixed-race communities, Hottentots, Bushmen, Kaffirs, etc.

Rare.

First edition of the French translation based on the second English edition, with additions drawn from Robert Adams's narrative in Africa, 1810. (cf. Gay 2788.)

Illustrated with 10 plates, including a frontispiece portrait of Mungo Park and a map showing his route from Kayee on the Gambia to Boussa on the Niger.

Contemporary full marbled tan sheep, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets, garlands and fleurons, cream title labels, gilt dentelle and fillet frames on boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets on board edges, speckled edges.

Some wear with minor losses at head and foot of one joint, a few scuffs to the covers, occasional foxing, otherwise a...

French edition translated from the English by Charles Athanase Walcknaer, illustrated with 8 folding maps inserted out of text: 5 in the first volume, 3 in the second (see Gay 2996).

Contemporary half purple sheep bindings, flat spines faded and decorated with gilt garlands, joints with some repairs, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, printed stamps to endpapers, occasional light foxing.

First edition of the French translation by Antoine Gilbert Griffet de La Baume of the first two volumes of "Asiatick researches, or, Transactions of the Society instituted in Bengal for enquiring into the history and antiquities, the arts, sciences and literature of Asia, Calcutta, 1788–1790" (cf. Chadenat 4934).

The first volume, Meteorological Journal kept by Colonel T. D. Pearse from 1785 to 1786, is illustrated with 33 full-page plates; the second, Meteorological Journal kept in Calcutta by Henry Trail from 1785 to 1786, with 11 plates and 2 tables, including one large folding plate.

Modern bindings in black half morocco, flat spines ruled with...

Very rare edition comprising the independent pre-publication of the first part of the major geological expedition to the Antilles and the islands of Tenerife and Fogo, a seven-volume quarto work also covering Guadeloupe, Martinique, and others.

Illustrated with 9 lithographed plates, including a folding map of the Cape Verde Islands and 6 tinted views.

Not recorded by Sabin in his entry on the Voyage.

Bound after, by the same author: Recherches sur les principaux phénomènes de météorologie et de physique générale aux Antilles, printed in Paris by Gide and J. Baudry in 1849.

Bradel binding in full black textured cloth, smooth spine decorated with blind...

First complete edition of this major work in Africanist literature (cf. Bibliography of Côte d'Ivoire, 286. Not listed in Bruel, Bibliography of French Equatorial Africa. Lorentz, XIV, 215.)

This book contains an overall map, numerous detailed sketches, and one hundred and seventy-six wood engravings based on the drawings of Riou. Bindings in half cherry morocco with corners, spine with five raised bands decorated with cold-tooling, a small tear at the top of one joint, paper-covered boards, some light rubbing to the boards, endpapers and pastedowns made of marbled paper, corners slightly bumped, gilt edges, period bindings.

This exploration mission ordered by Faidherbe left...

First separate edition of this excerpt from the Nouvelles annales des voyages, September and October 1862 (cf. Gay 340).

Illustrated with a folding map.

Scattered foxing.

Contemporary navy half shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands and black ruling, spine restored, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, sprinkled edges.

Originally from Goin in Moselle and son-in-law of Linant de Bellefonds, Dr. Charles Cuny (1811–1858) spent nearly his entire career in Egypt as a military surgeon, after being dismissed from Algeria.

Gustave Flaubert and Maxime Du Camp, who met him during their celebrated journey, mention him in their...

First edition illustrated with 39 aquatint engravings, 37 of which are hand-colored (cf Atabey, 624. Hage-Chahine, 2388.)

Finely engraved and colored, the illustrations evoke the design of Persian miniatures: portraits (Fath Ali Shah, Abbas I, Nadir Shah), figures in costumes (Persian women, slave and eunuch from the harem, Persian rider…), views and ancient monuments (Tehran, ruins of Persepolis), scenes of daily life (Persian meal, village entertainments, writing master and his pupil, Persians in prayer…), musical instruments, etc.

Half dark green shagreen bindings, smooth spine decorated with double gilt fillets, gilt friezes on the head and tail, cat’s-eye paper boards...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a lithographed frontispiece portrait, six engraved plates by Ambroise Tardieu, and a large folding map, all outside the text (cf. Schwab, p.48, no. 360).

Some foxing, mainly affecting the beginnings and ends of the volumes, otherwise a handsome and attractively bound copy.

Contemporary binding in half aubergine shagreen, spines slightly faded, with five raised bands, decorated with black fillets and gilt floral tools, gilt dates at foot, marbled paper-covered boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, a few surface abrasions.

The original edition, A History of Persia, was first...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a portrait of the author and 29 engraved plates depicting objects, ornaments, coins, plants, and animals (cf. Cordier, Bibl. Japonica, 447. Gay, 3151. Brunet, V, 850).

Contemporary full marbled calf bindings, flat spines richly decorated with gilt typographic tools, gilt roll tooling at head and tail, brown morocco title-pieces, dark green morocco volume labels, gilt roll-tooled borders on boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets on board edges, yellow edges.

A Swedish botanist and naturalist, Carl Peter Thunberg (1743–1828) studied medicine and natural history at Uppsala and became one of Linnaeus’s most...

Rare first edition (cf. Borba de Moraes II, 753: "famous book of navigational bearings". Rodrigues 2144.)

Minor marginal foxing on the endpapers, otherwise a clean and appealing copy.

Contemporary-style binding in quarter tree calf with corners, smooth spine, blind-ruled panels on marbled paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns. Modern binding.

Baron Roussin (1781–1854) explored the coasts of Brazil in 1819–1820, during which he charted and described the Abrolhos archipelago—later made famous by Darwin’s observations aboard HMS Beagle (1832).

Manuscript ownership inscription: Guillotin.

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with 12 folding plates and maps outside the text, and 11 folding tables included in the pagination (cf. Sabin 62574).

Contemporary full mottled calf binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with double gilt panels, floral tools and gilt medallions, red morocco title label with some loss and partially lifting, gilt garland frame on covers, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, all edges yellow.

Some minor foxing, one joint fragile.

Famous account of this "unfortunate expedition which served to demonstrate the impossibility of crossing the Polar ice" [Hoefer]. Pages 187 to 208 are devoted to natural history...

First edition, rare, illustrated with a large folding engraved map (cf. Gay 3082).

Contemporary full marbled calf, smooth spine gilt in compartments adorned with gilt floral tools, tan morocco title label, gilt roll tooling at head and foot of spine, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets on board edges, red-speckled yellow edges.

Some restoration to spine and covers, occasional foxing and slight age-toning to a few gatherings.

Written from the memoirs of the missionaries Descourvières and Bellegarde. The first part offers a description of the country and the customs of its inhabitants, followed by notes on their language; the second part recounts the history of...

Illustrated edition featuring 6 charming lithographs, including 5 costume plates, executed by Madame Veuve Jobard in Dijon.

No copy listed in the CCF; not recorded by Vicaire or Colas.

Contemporary half brown sheepskin binding, spine slightly faded, gilt double fillets and decorative gilt rolls at head and foot, marbled paper boards, sprinkled edges.

Scattered foxing, small paper flaw on half-title.

A rare, wide-margined copy in period binding.

First edition, published by order of the Imperial Government of Brazil and illustrated with a folding color map at the end of the volume (cf. Garraux 169. Borba de Moraes I, 478).

Some light foxing, minor rubbing to the spine, a pleasing and scarce copy.

Contemporary binding in red half morocco-grained shagreen, smooth spine ruled in gilt with quadruple fillets, gilt coat of arms at foot of spine, small losses to head and tailcaps, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, period binding.

Emmanuel Liais, then Director of the Imperial Observatory of Rio de Janeiro, had been entrusted by Emperor Pedro II with various expeditions throughout the Brazilian...

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece, a portrait of the author, and 14 copper-engraved vignettes within the text, mostly depicting inhabitants of the North (cf Sabin, 38711.)

Restored binding in full grained morocco, spine with five false raised bands adorned with gilt fillets and double compartments, gilded roulettes on the partially faded caps, small repairs to the joints, gilt fillets on the edges, slightly worn corners, binding of the period.

Ink annotations on the white endpaper and at the top of the false-title page.

Born in Rouen in 1634, La Martinière embarked around 1670 as a surgeon on a ship of the Northern Company bound for Norway, and visited...

Rare first edition of this curious travel account, originally written entirely in verse (7,500 lines), though the author—on the advice of friends—agreed to intersperse it with prose narrative (retaining 2,500 lines of verse); see Sabin 20128, Gagnon 1134 (1710 edition), and Dionne II.

Contemporary full brown calf binding, spine with five raised bands, gilt compartments decorated with gilt floral tools, cherry red morocco label, gilt roll tooling at head and foot, double black fillet border on covers, gilt fillets on board edges, sprinkled yellow edges with red mottling.

Lower right corner of upper cover restored; some spots and minor scuffs to the boards; occasional light...

Rare first edition of this "relation (...) much sought after for its accuracy", illustrated with 19 folding plates, including 2 maps (cf. Sabin 3604, Leclerc 119).

Full marbled tan calf binding, spine with five raised bands, gilt compartments decorated with gilt floral motifs, small chip at foot of spine, scuffing to covers, red edges, bumped corners, gilt fillets along the board edges, contemporary binding.

The author, a physician and botanist born in Perpignan in 1690—where he held a post at the military hospital—was introduced by Antoine de Jussieu to the Conseil de la Marine in August 1721 and appointed royal physician and botanist in French Guiana. He landed in...

First edition, illustrated with 3 hors-texte plates (cf. Rodrigues 1357. Borba de Moraes I, 381. See INED 2496 for the 1774 edition).

The plates depict: Brama, god of the Indians – View of a pagoda tower – Snake charmer.

Contemporary-style binding in marbled tawny calf over vellum-tipped corners, spine with five raised bands, ruled in gilt, brown calf lettering-piece, marbled paper-covered boards, red sprinkled edges, modern binding.

Coromandel Coast, European trading posts, military strongholds, Indian religion, medicine, anatomy, caste system, Indian manners, dress, dwellings, gardens, food (and temperance), wedding rituals, funerals, Indian morals, fauna, flora...

Original edition printed in a limited number of copies of this excerpt from Bulletin of the Société de géographie (1882-1883).

This text was re-edited in 1885 by Hachette.

Work illustrated with figures in the text and a large folding map at the end (Route from Médine to Nango by the Gallieni mission).

Binding in black half-shagreen, spine with five raised bands decorated with cold fillets, boards of handmade paper, preserved original covers, modern binding signed by Boichot.

Covers restored with some stains, pleasant interior condition.

Work illustrated with figures in the text and a large folding map at the end (Route from Médine to Nango by the...

First collected edition of the author's works (see Quérard, V, 642; DSB, IX, 186–189; Poggendorff I, 85).

Printed in Dresden by George Conrad Walther ["Printed in Leipsic by Jean Gottlob Immanuel Breitkopf"]

Full mottled fawn calf, spine with five raised bands richly gilt in compartments with floral tools, red morocco label, joints restored, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, red edges; contemporary binding.

Some occasional foxing; restorations to the joints, edges and corners of the boards.

First edition of the "Works" of Maupertuis. Pages 95 to 142 contain the "Mesure de la terre au Cercle Polaire"; pages 311 to 326 feature the "Relation d'un Voyage fait dans la...

First edition, illustrated with numerous in-text tables.

Spine split with small losses, a restored tear at the foot of the upper cover, minor losses to the lower cover, internally well preserved.

Antoine-Paulin Pihan (1810–1879), who was proficient in Arabic, Turkish, and Persian, held the modest post of compositor in the Oriental Typography department at the Imprimerie Impériale. Yet the volume of his linguistic work reveals an orientalist of far greater depth than his official title suggests. This work documents a remarkable variety of numeral systems (see the alphabetical index at the end of the volume), ranging from Albania to Japan, and from Ethiopia to Mongolia.

First edition of this collection of observations and reports on French Algeria, whose pacification had just been completed (cf. Quérard VI 70, Playfair 1264. See also Gay 953 and Tailliart 812).

Contemporary bindings in half bottle-green sheep, flat spines decorated with gilt fillets and triple gilt panels, a gilt fillet framing a large plaque decorated with blind-stamped motifs on the percaline-covered boards, school stamp [Pensionnat de M. Ballé], marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, gilt fillets at head- and tailcaps, period bindings.

Some restorations to spine ends and joints; school prize labels affixed opposite the half-titles.

The work is sometimes...

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...

First edition, illustrated with 39 full-page plates and numerous in-text vignettes (cf. Lorenz IX, 494).

Bradel binding in full brown buckram, smooth spine gilt-stamped with a floral tool, gilt double fillet at foot, green morocco label, modern binding signed by Lobstein-Laurenchet.

Some foxing, mostly to the first and last leaves.

A pleasant copy.

Measuring the Mountain: Deluc on the Summit of the Buet

New edition, the second after the original Geneva edition of 1772, published in Paris in 1784 by the widow Duchesne, in four octavo volumes. Illustrated with six folding plates engraved by G. Dheulland and C. G. Geissler, depicting barometers, thermometers, and various measuring instruments, together with a folding table comparing atmospheric heights calculated according to the formulae of several scientists, including Mariotte, Halley, Cassini, Daniel Bernoulli, and Bouguer.

Contemporary full mottled polished calf. Smooth...

First edition, illustrated with 59 drawings by Léon Bennet and Paul Philippoteaux, 35 facsimiles of early engravings, and 20 maps or plans.

Catalogue S bound in at the end.
Publisher’s brick-red cloth binding in the so-called “Ptolemaic Sphere” design, one of Souze’s most harmonious binding compositions, bound by Engel; upper cover decorated with a special plaque designed by Souze, lower cover of type b with central rosette and darkened corner palmettes; brown endpapers characteristic of the first edition; all edges gilt. 

Scattered foxing. One lower corner bumped, minor rubbing to the upper cover along the joint, lower cover darkened and with a few small...

First edition, illustrated with 4 plates, one folding, and a large vignette on the dedication leaf.

Contemporary full fawn calf, smooth spine gilt in compartments with gilt floral tools, olive-green shagreen lettering-piece, minor rubbing to the joints, boards framed with triple gilt fillets, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets to the board edges, all edges gilt.

Contemporary ownership inscription on a free endpaper.

Internally in pleasing condition.

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with an engraved frontispiece and a folding plate.

Bradel binding in half red morocco-grained shagreen with small corners, smooth spine richly decorated in the grotesque style, orange paper-covered boards with a few small areas of paper loss and some staining, yellow edges.

A few minor spots of foxing.

After witnessing the plight of enslaved Black people in the West Indies, the Danish botanist Paul Erdmann Isert returned from his travels as a fervent abolitionist. His writings prompted Prince Frederick of Denmark to abolish the triangular trade throughout his dominions in 1803.

Rare first edition. First volume published on 6 May 1867, the second on 27 July and the third the next year (28 January 1868). All of 18° format are first editions of Verne's novels.

Contemporary brown half shagreen bindings, spines with four raised bands ruled in black and decorated with double black panels featuring central gilt floral tools, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, two upper corners slightly bumped, speckled edges, contemporary bindings.

A handsome copy attractively housed in its contemporary bindings. In Search of the Castaways is the very first Verne novel to be adapted for the cinema. predating even...

A complete set of the astronomical writings of Jean Sylvain Bailly, partly in first edition. This is the main work of the author,  first Mayor of Paris, elected during his lifetime to three French academies, a distinction previously achieved only by Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle.

The present set comprises the second edition of the Histoire de l'astronomie ancienne, the new edition of the Histoire de l'astronomie moderne, and the first edition of the Traité de l'astronomie indienne et...

First edition, first printing, complete with its engraved title page and dedication page, as well as its 59 maps, most of them multicoloured, all mounted on guards. Our copy is bound with the "Catalogue des ouvrages, tant anciens que modernes, du fonds du Sr Desnos, Ingénieur-Géographe pour les Globes & Sphères" for the year 1765.

Contemporary binding in full tree-calf, spine with five raised bands and gilt-tooled compartments decorated with pomegranate fleurons, red morocco lettering-piece, triple blind-ruled...

This illustrated volume with 58 engraved plates numbered 1-57 (including a plate 15bis) serves as the atlas to the two text volumes of the Manual of Navigation to the West Coast of Africa, issued in 1851.

Not in Polak, although that bibliography carefully records all the author’s other works, as well as the extracts derived from the Manual.

Some foxing, a light marginal waterstain to the right margin of all leaves.

Contemporary half navy blue cloth, smooth spine ruled in blind, paper losses and abrasions to the marbled paper boards, a small label pasted at the head of the upper cover, a few nicks to the edges, corners rubbed.

A lieutenant in the French Navy...

First edition, printed in a small number of copies, of this offprint from the Bulletin de la Société normande de géographie.

Contemporary-style Bradel binding in full burgundy cloth, spine titled lengthwise, burgundy paper endleaves and pastedowns, wrappers doubled and restored and preserved, modern binding. 

Only three copies recorded in the CCF (BnF, Sainte-Geneviève, Condorcet).

This is the author’s second report delivered before a Norman audience (Pelliot had family ties to Normandy), concerning the 1906–1908 expedition to Chinese Turkestan.

It followed the Paris lecture (Trois ans dans la haute Asie, conférence de M. Paul Pelliot au grand...

Reprint of the Exposé statistique du Tunkin, first published in London in 1811 by Ant. Jean Bapt. de Montgon (cf. Cordier, Indosinica, 997).

Contemporary uniform half tawny calf bindings, smooth spines decorated with double gilt fillets, red and black calf lettering and volume labels, a few scuffs to the spines, marbled paper-covered boards, yellow edges.

Occasional light foxing.

A French missionary born at Bourgueil around 1764 and deceased in 1830, La Bissachère entered the Paris Foreign Missions Seminary before being sent to Tonkin in 1790, where he remained for seventeen years.

During his stay, he travelled extensively throughout the provinces...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a plan of Macao and 51 engraved plates by S. Simon after drawings by William Alexander (cf. Cordier, Sinica, 2387).

In the train of Lord Macartney’s embassy, by Mr Holmes, sergeant-major of his guard; to which have been added the Views, Costumes, etc., of China, by Mr W. Alexander, the plates from the original atlas of the embassy omitted from the French translation, together with their explanations. Translated from the English (…), revised and published with observations on the political and commercial relations of England and France with China, and notes by L. Langlès. 

Nineteenth-century binding in tan...

First edition (cf. Mendelssohn I 696; not recorded by Gay.)

Some foxing.

Contemporary half tawny sheep, spine in five compartments with raised bands, bands tooled with gilt dotted rolls and decorated with gilt fillets and fleurons, blue shagreen title-piece, author"s name in green shagreen, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, top edge red, period binding. 

Auguste Haussmann (Winterzenheim 1815 – Alger-Mustapha 1874), a diplomat, was appointed French consul at the Cape of Good Hope, where he collected traditions still current among the descendants of the French Huguenots who had settled at the Cape after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.

Pages 1 to 134...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with 14 hand-coloured engravings depicting costumes (cf. Colas 961.)

Bindings in blue half morocco, spines slightly faded, with five raised bands and minor rubbing, dates gilt at the foot, illustrated wrappers preserved, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled top edges, corners slightly bumped.

Foxing, small paper flaw to the corner of page 37 and misbound leaves in volume 1.

An unrecorded edition of the first of the nine geographical booklets published by Marc Bonifas, known as Du Carla (1738-1816), between 1779 and 1780. 

At the end of the volume, the work is illustrated with a folding plate.

A light dampstain to the upper margins of the final leaves.

Bradel binding in full blue paper-covered boards, smooth spine, date at foot, navy blue sheep title-piece, modern binding.

Ordinary editions bear the Geneva imprint, and the pagination is more extensive. 

The author is chiefly known for having been the first to advocate the use of contour lines for the representation of terrain, extending to topography techniques already employed...

First edition, no copy recorded in the CCF.

Modern bradel binding in full burgundy cloth, spine ruled in gilt.

First leaf restored to the right margin with an adhesive repair, some light foxing, dampstain to the upper margin of the opening leaves.

A native of the Briançonnais (Villeneuve-la-Salle), like many booksellers who settled beyond the Alps, Yves Gravier established himself in Genoa in the second half of the eighteenth century, first in partnership with Louis Fantin, and subsequently on his own.

His parents Jean, Thomas and Simon Gravier were likewise active in Italy (Thomas in Rome itself).

In 1839, the firm was placed into liquidation.

Rare first edition printed in a small number of copies.

Our copy is preserved in its original blue paper provisional wrappers.

Born at Annonay in 1811, Auguste Bravais entered the École Polytechnique in 1829.

Having become a hydrographic engineer, he undertook several expeditions before embarking, in 1835, aboard the Recherche, dispatched to the Arctic regions in an attempt to locate Blosseville's Lilloise. There he carried out numerous observations in meteorology, terrestrial magnetism, and astronomy.

Appointed Professor of Mathematics Applied to Astronomy at the Faculty of Sciences in Lyon in 1840, he gave up seafaring and devoted himself...

First edition of the final work devoted to the Canary Islands by the zoologist and ethnographer Sabin Berthelot (1794-1880), whose first stay in the islands dates back to 1820.

From that time onward, he resided for the most part in Tenerife and devoted himself to the study of his adopted country.

At the end of the volume, the work is illustrated with 20 plates printed outside the text, some with coloured subjects.

A few minor spots of foxing.

Complete anonymous manuscript of 23 pages (plus title page and table), from the first half of the 19th century, entitled: Cap de Bonne Espérance. 1er cahier.

Our manuscript is presented in a navy blue half shagreen folder, marbled paper boards, housed in a slipcase edged with navy blue shagreen, marbled paper boards.

An account of a stopover at the Cape, a city under British rule, which, according to the anonymous author, retains many traces of its Dutch past.

Description of the town, its geographical setting, its buildings, churches and houses, whose cleanliness contrasts with the dirt and the smell of meat prevailing in most of the streets.

This...

First edition, one of 1,045 and one of 1,246 numbered copies on deluxe paper, the only large-paper issues after the 118 and 120 reimposed copies.

A pleasing set.

New edition.

Contemporary half bottle-green sheep over green paper boards, smooth spine decorated with double gilt fillets and a central gilt fleuron, green endpapers and pastedowns, contemporary binding.

Some light foxing.

"The author's Cosmologie, published at Paris in 1815 [?], devoted considerable space to America". (Sabin, 100990).

First edition of the French translation prepared by Lamole de Tamayo of this monumental publication, long sought after for its exceptionally rich iconography: 107 plates hors texte, including 2 in colour (mostly portraits), 2 folding colour maps, and a very large number of in-text figures and photographs (portraits, views, reproductions of early engravings, types and costumes, portraits, etc.).

Publisher’s bindings in half brown shagreen, smooth spines decorated with gilt fillets and dotted tooling, as well as blind-stamped panels; gilt titles and ornaments in relief on the green percaline boards; publisher’s bindings signed E. Domenech-Barna.

Some rubbing to the spines with...

First edition of the French translation prepared by J. de Rey-Pailhade and Henry-Joseph Sauvaire, issued in a small printing as an offprint from the Journal asiatique.

A few small spots of foxing; a pleasing and uncommon copy.

Half green cloth, smooth spine with red morocco title-label, ‘œil-de-chat’ patterned paper over boards, sprinkled edges.

Illustrated with two double-page plates outside the text.

Born in Marseille, Henri Sauvaire (1831–1896) began his career in the consular service before turning to Near-Eastern archaeology.

On the half-title, a presentation inscription in the hand of Henri-Joseph Sauvaire to the archaeologist...

Rare illustrated first edition, with 5 copper-engraved plates hors-texte, including 2 folding plates (cf. Barbier II, 302. Schwab, 517. Hage Chahine, 4320. Wilson, 200. Absent from Blackmer and Atabey.)

Our copy lacks the two dedication leaves to Rouillié, often missing, with repairs to the joints and one corner, and a manuscript ex-libris on the title-page.

Contemporary full mottled fawn calf, spine with five raised bands gilt and decorated with gilt compartments and floral tools, tan calf title-label, gilt fillets to the edges partly faded, speckled edges.

Sanson, a zealous apostolic missionary, tireless traveller and accomplished diplomat, arrived in Persia in...

First edition, printed in a small number of copies, of this offprint.

Only three copies recorded in the CCF (BnF, Sorbonne, Campus Condorcet). 

Included in the collection of studies relating to Egyptian and Assyrian philology and archaeology. Offprint from the Muséon. Louvain, Charles Peeters, 1883. Spine and covers marginally faded, with small tears and slight marginal losses, one snag with loss to the centre of the lower cover.

Félix-Marie-Louis-Jean Robiou de La Tréhonnais (1818-1894) was deputy professor at the Faculties of Letters of Strasbourg and Nancy, and Professor of Greek Literature at the Faculty of Rennes.

Very rare first edition, illustrated with two frontispieces, eighteen plates, and a folding map table bound at the end of the second volume.

Scattered foxing.

Half black shagreen bindings, smooth spines tooled in blind with fillets and small ornaments, gilt lettering at the foot of the spines showing some rubbing, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, light rubbing to the extremities, sprinkled edges, contemporary bindings.

Born at Versailles in 1809, Anne Jean-Baptiste Raffenel entered the Naval administration in 1825.

After several voyages, notably to Africa, the West Indies and the United States, he was posted to Senegal and from 1843...

First edition of the French translation (cf. Gay 3146).

Our copy is preserved in the original wrappers, with yellow and black marbled covers and a title label pasted at the head of the spine.

Occasional light foxing; a numbering in black ink facing the half-title.