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

First edition of the French translation of this account, originally published under the title: "An Account of the Island of Ceylon" in London in 1803 (cf. Boucher de La Richarderie, V, 135. Brunet, IV, 490 and Quérard, VII, 43 mention an edition published by Dentu, 1804).

Contemporary full mottled calf bindings, smooth spines decorated with gilt compartments and gilt tools, red morocco lettering pieces, green calf volume labels, gilt rolls at the head and tail partly worn, fragile joints, marbled paper endpapers and pastedowns, bookplates pasted to the pastedowns, gilt fillets on the board edges, speckled edges.

Bindings rubbed, small losses at the foot of the joints...

New edition of the French translation of this work, originally published in 1731 in two quarto volumes (see Brunet IV, 456).

This edition is illustrated with 8 folding plates, comprising 3 maps and 5 views.

Contemporary full marbled tan calf bindings, smooth spines richly decorated with gilt floral panels, bronze calf lettering- and volume-pieces, small wormholes to the spines, gilt rolls to the caps, single blind fillet framing the boards, marbled endpapers, gilt fillets to the board edges, red edges, bindings of the period.

Repairs to the joints, a few occasional spots of foxing.

The translator of this French version, written "en un style aisé, clair, même...

First edition of the French translation (cf. Chadenat, 494; Brunet I, 24.)

Contemporary half green sheep, smooth spines faded and decorated with double gilt fillets, marbled paper sides with minor rubbing, marbled endpapers, two small tears at the joints, contemporary bindings.

Light waterstain to the upper right corner of a number of leaves in the second volume.

An Indian traveller, Mirza Abu Taleb Khan was born in 1752 at Lucknow in Hindustan and died in Calcutta in 1806. 

After serving in the army of the Nawab of Oudh, he embarked for Europe on 16 February 1799 with his friend Captain David Richardson.

Following a three-month stay at the Cape, he landed at...

Fine contemporary manuscript plan in colour depicting the region (now within the Var department) extending from Le Thouar in the north to the Château Sainte-Marguerite in the south, of considerable strategic importance as the eastern defensive line protecting the approaches to Toulon.

Fold marks without tears or loss.

Fine hand-coloured manuscript plan depicting the area (now in the Var department) situated north of the village of La Valette (today La Valette-du-Var), extending to the lower slopes of Mont Coudon (702 m).

Creasing to the manuscript sheet.

Manuscript drawing consisting of a coloured sketch of one of the fort’s bastions, with scale in toises.

Construction of the Fort de Lamalgue, situated on the hill of the same name and intended to secure the landward approaches to Toulon while also protecting Fort Saint-Louis (Mourillon), which had been bombarded and abandoned during the siege of 1707, began in 1764 under the direction of Milet de Monville.

Works continued until 1792.

Traces of folding to the sheet.

Second edition of the french translation.

Some light foxing.

Contemporary full mottled calf bindings, smooth spines richly gilt with typographical ornaments, slight rubbing to the joints, red morocco title and volume labels, gilt rolls to the headcaps, sides framed with a gilt floral dentelle, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt dotted edges, marbled edges.

Gay 368 : "On y trouve l'extrait du voyage de Picard qui se rendit à Fouta Tora ; cette relation ne se rencontre pas ailleurs". 

Second edition, in large part original as it is substantially enlarged (Tulard, 876, for the editions of 1814 and 1818).

Our copy remains sewn in the original plain temporary wrappers.

Backstrips slightly split, a few scattered spots of foxing.

The first volume is illustrated with 4 plates outside the text (including a frontispiece and a folding plan), together with 5 folding tables; the second with 2 engraved plates, one folding table, and, at the end of the volume, a further large folding plan.

This very scarce work expands upon a pamphlet first issued in 1814 (Moscou avant et après l’incendie), devoted chiefly to the burning of Moscow in 1812, of...

First edition of the illustrated French translation, with 2 maps (one folding), in-text figures, and 5 steel-engraved plates by Fauchery (see Chadenat 2669. Borba de Moraes does not mention the very brief passage devoted to the Rio stage of the journey (see volume III, p. 381), which is in fact rather insignificant).

Some foxing.

Contemporary romantic bindings in aubergine half sheep, smooth spines faded and decorated with gilt romantic arabesques, light wear to the headcaps, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, armorial bookplates pasted to the pastedowns, speckled edges.

The English traveller Richard Lander [1804–1834], originally trained as a...

First edition illustrated with 1 large folding map: "Carte de la côte occidentale d'Afrique depuis le Cap Barbas jusqu'au Cap Tagrin par Lapie, Ingénieur Géographe (et) gravée par P.F. Tardieu" (cf. Gay 2905.)

Our copy in original stitched wrappers with interim covers lined with marbled paper.

Light dampstaining to the right margin of the final leaves.

Important details on the slave trade in connection with the Gorée Island stopover at the end of the volume.

Pierre Labarthe (Dax 1760 - Paris 1824) was appointed head of the Bureau of Eastern Colonies and African Coasts in 1794, a position he held until 1808.

He had gathered numerous authentic documents...

Rare illustrated first edition, complete with three folding maps printed at the end of the volume: Cercle de Biskra, Zaatcha et les oasis voisines, Plan des attaques de Zaatcha du 7 octobre au 26 novembre 1849 (cf. Playfair 2479. Tailliart 1903.) 

Bound in modern half black shagreen, spine with five raised bands, gilt date at foot, minor rubbing to foot of spine, comb-marbled paper sides, brown paper endleaves and pastedowns, top edge gilt. 

Occasional foxing, manuscript bookplate in violet pencil on a flyleaf.

First separately issued edition, illustrated with a large folding map, issued as a plate outside the text (cf. Sabin 94850).

The work was first published in 1838 in the Notices statistiques sur les colonies françaises.

"La lecture des documents officiels réunis dans la Notice statistique laissera déjà dans tous les esprits cette conviction que la Guyane française offre de nombreux éléments de richesse et de prospérité, et que, pour les avoir laissés improductifs pendant deux siècles, la France ne peut avoir renoncé à les mettre un jour en valeur".

Some light foxing, otherwise a pleasing copy.

First edition of the illustrated French translation, with 2 plates outside the text, one of which folding.

Bindings in contemporary full mottled fawn calf, smooth spines richly gilt with panelled compartments, joints split and restored, some rubbing and small wormholes to the spines, marbled paper endleaves and pastedowns, gilt fillet to the board edges, marbled edges, two rather clumsy restorations to two corners; bindings of the period.

Pleasing internal condition.

This is an abridged translation (but, unusually, explicitly stated as such) of the major work Reise durch Sibirien, published in Göttingen in 1751–1752, comprising 4 quarto volumes and an abundant...

First edition illustrated with a folding map and a folding plate of fossils (cf. O'Reilly, Nouvelle-Calédonie, 486a).

Light waterstaining affecting the plate and the map at the end of the volume.

The palaeontologist Eugène Eudes-Deslongchamps (1830–1889) devoted most of his work to Normandy, his native region, but he also produced geological monographs based on collections assembled by other researchers, as is the case here.

First edition, illustrated with a double-page folding map composed of seventeen plates, together with twelve figures in the text (cf. Hague Chahine 1504.).

Bradel binding in half glazed brown cloth, smooth spine with the date gilt at the foot, red shagreen title-label showing minor surface marks, stone-patterned paper boards, corners lightly rubbed; a contemporary binding.

Some scattered foxing.

Account of an archaeological mission including an extensive study of Safaitic inscriptions, with a glossary and an index of proper names.

First edition, illustrated with a large folding map inserted as a plate (see Gay 1114; Playfair 692; Tailliart 1290: "Livre écrit entre la première (1836) et la deuxième (1837) expédition de Constantine : étude consciencieuse, documentée, sincère").

Modern half caramel calf binding, smooth spine gilt with double fillets, marbled paper sides, original upper wrapper preserved.

Some foxing.

First edition, printed in a small number of copies, of this interesting report extracted from the Annales maritimes et coloniales of 1839 (cf. Polak 2837).

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, with a plain blue-grey cover.

Tears to the spine and to the margins of the covers, some foxing, notably on the title page.

Fourth separate issue of this memoir. The text first appeared in the Description de l’Égypte, before being reissued in several offprints (cf. Meulenaere p. 80.)

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, under temporary green paper covers, spine restored, minor marginal losses and a few tears to the covers, internally in pleasing condition.

At the head of the front free endpaper, autograph inscription by Du Bois-Aymé “à son honorable collège et ami Monsieur Etienne”.

Du Bois-Aymé (1779-1846), who embarked on the Tonnant, travelled to Egypt as a student of the École Polytechnique. He sat his examinations there, at the same time as...

New edition illustrated with 66 plates and maps printed outside the text, most of them folding: 3 frontispieces, 39 plates and 24 maps, including a world map and charts of the various islands, some printed with coastal profiles, as well as views of ports (Manila, Bahia, Scio), of islands (the Canaries, Cape Verde), monuments, a shipwreck, battle scenes, indigenous peoples, flora (apricot, cocoa), and fauna (birds, fish), together with a curious depiction of the “hippopotamus or sea-horse” (vol. 3, p. 361).

Cf. Sabin, 18382. Borba de Moraes, I, 243-244. Leclerc (1867), 416. Cordier, Bibl. Indosinica, 1459-1460. Boucher de La Richarderie, I, 121-122. Hoefer, XII, 881-885.

First edition. 

Contemporary half black shagreen over comb-marbled paper boards, spine with five raised bands ruled in black, green paper endleaves and pastedowns, original wrappers retained (soiled), modern binding.

Heavy foxing throughout.

Illustrated edition with 6 plates hors texte, including one folding map; French text with an English translation.

Only the introduction is in English, the remainder of the volume being devoted to a sound scholarly publication of the accounts of Cartier’s three voyages.

Repaired tears at head and tail of the spine; spine and boards lightly sunned.

Henry Percival Biggar (1872–1938) was an archivist at the Public Archives of Canada and a leading authority on the history of New France.

Copy from the library of the archivist Charles Bourel de La Roncière (1870–1941), a specialist in maritime and colonial history, with, on the front free endpaper, an autograph...

First edition illustrated with 105 engravings, a heliogravure portrait frontispiece with tissue guard, as well as 2 folding maps at the end of the volume.

Publisher's bottle-green full cloth Bradel binding, smooth spine, upper cover decoratively blocked, bevelled boards, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, corners lightly rubbed.

A Geneva-born geographer, Alfred Bertrand (1856-1924) undertook numerous journeys for ethnographic purposes as well as missionary work; a fervent Calvinist, he sought not only the conversion of indigenous peoples but also a deeper understanding of their customs, and the destinations of his expeditions were largely determined by the...

Unpublished manuscript comprising 17 original signed and captioned watercolours executed in 1873 by a certain A. Poquet, an illustrator whose name has not been traced in the principal artists' dictionaries. The work announced on the calligraphic title page, Vues et types du Sénégal (Views and Types of Senegal), appears never to have been published; these watercolours almost certainly constitute the original maquette, or preparatory artwork, intended for its illustration.

The volume comprises a calligraphic title leaf, with a table of plates on the verso, followed by thirteen leaves on which the seventeen watercolours are mounted, one or two to a page...

First edition of the illustrated French translation, embellished in the second volume with a plate, a folding table, and a large folding map printed as a separate leaf (cf. Gay 2996).

Contemporary full mottled fawn calf, smooth spines gilt with fillets, garlands, and floral tools, red morocco title and volume labels, with the volume labels inlaid with green morocco, gilt rolls at the headcaps, minor rubbing to the spines, dentelle, single gilt fillet and gilt garland framing the boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, corners rubbed, gilt fillets to the board edges, lemon edges; bindings of the period.

In 1797, John Barrow (1764–1848) accompanied Lord Macartney, as his...

First edition, illustrated with a folding map by Kiepert, issued as a separate plate (see Gay 3605).

Contemporary-style half tobacco calf binding, spine with five raised bands ruled in black, sides covered with marbled paper, modern binding.

Occasional foxing.

First edition, printed in a small number of copies, cf. Gay 204; Bourquelot I, 115.

Contemporary full mottled fawn sheep, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets and fleurons, joints rubbed, red shagreen title-piece, gilt rolls to the headcaps partly faded, gilt dentelle border to the boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets to the edges of the boards, partly browned, red edges.

Joints restored, circular losses filled in the blank areas of the title and half-title pages.

Very scarce first edition, issued in a small printing, of this offprint from the Annales des Sciences naturelles for September 1828 (cf. Engelmann I, 315).

This paper is preceded by "Extrait du rapport fait à l’Académie royale des sciences sur le mémoire présenté par MM. Audouin et Milne-Edwards, par MM. Cuvier et Duméril".

The CCF records only two copies, in Paris (Muséum) and Montpellier.

The author of several entomological papers published from 1821 onwards, Victor Audouin also took an interest in marine biology: in 1826, 1828 and 1829 he undertook, together with Henri Milne-Edwards, three field trips to Brittany and Normandy.

The present...

First separate illustrated edition, with a large folding map printed on a separate sheet and hand-coloured in outline bound at the end of the volume.

This geographical study is in fact an extract from Volume II of the first French translation by Stanislas Julien of the Da Tang Xiyu Ji (Record of the Western Regions of the Great Tang), the literary account of Xuanzang's nineteen-year journey (626–645, during the Tang dynasty), from Chang'an across Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent.

The two-volume work had previously been published by the Imprimerie impériale in 1857 and 1858.

Spine split, restored with minor losses, some foxing.

First edition, forming the tenth volume of Voyages, Relations et Mémoires Originaux pour servir à l'Histoire de la Découverte de l'Amérique, published by H. Ternaux-Compans (cf. Sabin, 94854).

Some foxing, front board tending to detach, minor losses to the spine and at the corners of the boards.

This volume contains the Itinerary of the Voyage of the Fleet of the Catholic King to the Island of Yucatan, undertaken in 1518 under the command of Captain General Juan de Grijalva, first published in Italian in Venice in 1522.

It is followed by 19 other previously unpublished pieces relating to the history of Mexico, including: A Brief Account of New...

First edition.

Only three copies recorded in the CCFr.

Spine restored with some losses remaining, sun-faded boards, scattered foxing.

The sole edition: despite his surname, Dr Roberts appears to have been French, and it was at the request of the French Minister of Public Instruction that he undertook this journey through Central Asia, of which India formed but one stage.

First edition, exceedingly rare, illustrated with 3 folding tables, 6 charming vignettes drawn and engraved by J. Duplessi-Bertaux, and 5 plates by Tardieu: 1 folding plan of Sebastopol, 1 large folding map, and 3 plates depicting medals, coins, and bas-reliefs (cf. Atabey 1034. Absent from Blackmer. No copy recorded in the NUC.)

Contemporary Bradel binding in full green paper-covered boards, smooth spine decorated with gilt rules, minor scuffing to spine and covers, a small snag at the foot of the upper cover, contemporary binding.

Wear to spine ends, one bumped lower corner, occasional foxing, a few dampstains at the foot of certain leaves.

In February 1803, Baron de...

First edition for each of the volumes.

Contemporary full mottled fawn sheep binding, spine with five raised bands, tooled in gilt with alternating anchors and fleurs-de-lis, joints split and restored at head and foot, burgundy shagreen title-piece with a small angular loss, spine ends trimmed, gilt arms stamped at the centre of the covers, red edges, corners bumped, contemporary binding.

 2 ff.n.ch., 81 pp. Sabin 12235. Polak 1655 records this work from the Maurice Chamonal catalogue no. 31.

Bound after: Cyprien-Antoine de Lieudé de Sepmanville: "Détail particulier pour la carte de la Gonave, ajoutée en 1788 au Pilote de l'Isle de Saint-Domingue", printed in...

First edition printed in a small number of copies of this offprint from "Voyages en Scandinavie, en Laponie et au Spitzberg de la corvette la Recherche", Physical Geography, vol. II, p. 279, the author having taken part in the expedition (1838-1840).

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, with plain green temporary covers.

Illustrated with 1 folding plate at the end of the volume.

Some light foxing and a few marginal tears to the right margins of certain leaves.

First edition of the French translation (cf. Blackmer 1752. Not in Weber or Atabey. See Barbier IV, 1083.)

Contemporary full marbled tan calf bindings, smooth spines gilt tooled in compartments with floral motifs, red morocco lettering-pieces, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets to board edges.

Some restorations to a few joints and spines, minor scattered foxing.

Volume IV is entirely devoted to the author’s stay in the Greek islands: Crete, Candia, Damaste, Retimo, Mount Ida, Gortyn, the labyrinth of Crete, Milo, Syphante, Seriphos, Antiparos, Paros, Naxia, Stenofa, Amorgos, Skinosa, Delos, Rhenia, Syra, Cynthos, Zia, Macrounisa, Jura, Tenos, Scio...

First French edition, complete with its engraved plate at the end of the volume: "Air mauresque" (see Gay 1352).

Bookseller’s resale label from the antiquarian bookseller Challamel affixed to the foot of the title page.

Bound in contemporary half brown calf, smooth spine with gilt and blind tooling, black morocco title and date labels, some rubbing to the spine, marbled paper boards, handmade laid paper endleaves and pastedowns, speckled edges, corners slightly worn, upper corner missing on one, binding slightly later.

Some foxing, dampstaining affecting the lower margin of the first 70 leaves.

The work was first published in London in 1811 under the title...

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece depicting the site of the ancient city of Panticapaeum (now Kerch, in Crimea), a title-page vignette showing a view of the modern town, two maps (Greek colonies of the Bosphorus and the Black Sea; the Strait of Kerch, with Macpherson’s route), as well as 12 plates, 9 of them in colour (tumuli, vases, bronzes, oil lamps, statuettes, symbols, inscriptions and various objects recovered during excavations), and numerous wood-engravings in the text.

Cf. Abbey, Travel in aquatint and lithography, 243. Blackmer, 1055.

Publisher’s grey blind-stamped cloth, gilt title lettered lengthwise to the smooth spine, large gilt device blocked at...

First edition.

Only three copies recorded in the CCF (BnF, Besançon and Strasbourg).

Minor spotting to the covers, a pleasant copy.

Andrés Poey y Aguirre (1826–1919) was the founder and director of the Physical and Meteorological Observatory of Havana.

At the head of the upper cover, autograph inscription from Andrés Poey to the chemist Edmond Becquerel (1820–1891).

First edition of this essential work on the subject.

The first volume is illustrated with an engraved portrait of the author hors texte; the second contains one folding plate hors texte.

Contemporary half aubergine sheep bindings, smooth spines slightly faded and tooled with gilt and blind fillets, a few scuffs to the marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges.

First edition (cf. Polak, 7057; Grandidier I, 2503).

Nineteenth-century Bradel-style binding of marbled paper-covered boards, brown sheep title-label, headcaps worn away, corners bumped.

Some little foxing.

This pamphlet contains a translation of a small portion of the monumental India Directory—more precisely, Directions for sailing to and from the East Indies, China, New Holland, Cape of Good Hope, and the interjacent ports, compiled chiefly from original journals and observations made during 21 years' experience in navigating those seas (1817)—by the Scottish hydrographer James Horsburgh (1762–1836), who was employed by the British East India Company.

The...

First edition, adorned with numerous tables including 8 folding at the end of the volume, and illustrated with 62 figures in the text.

Publisher’s Bradel binding in full burgundy cloth, smooth spine lettered in gilt on the upper cover, upper headcap lacking, lower headcap worn, upper cover framed with blind-stamped typographical motifs at the corners, blue-grey endpapers and pastedowns, upper corners rubbed.

A marginal loss to the right margin of pages 97-98, not affecting the text.

A treatise on hydrography and maritime topography, the first of its kind in Brazil, intended for fourth-year students of the Brazilian Naval School.

The author, the naval officer...

Atlas volume only from this important 8-volume work, produced within the broader movement to generalize the use of statistics initiated by ministers François de Neufchâteau and subsequently Chaptal. 

Contemporary half flexible paper boards, smooth spine without lettering in blue cloth, marbled paper-covered boards with a printed title label of the period to the centre of the upper cover, spine restored.

Marginal dampstaining to the boards, occasional spotting or soiling to the margins of some leaves.

Herbin, who coordinated the work, draws upon official data that prefects were required to supply for this purpose. 

This volume, in accordance with the table of...

First edition of the French translation by Barrère de Vieuzac, illustrated with 2 folding maps as plates.

Cf. Sabin 31266. Leclerc 1759.

Contemporary half aubergine basane binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt friezes, a gilt frieze at the tail, marbled paper boards, handmade paper endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges, period binding.

Some light water staining affecting notably the two folding maps.

Rare work, significant for its contributions to Statistics, Geography, Mineralogy, Metallurgy, Natural History, Agriculture, and Trade of South America.

The original German edition was printed in Dresden in 1798. Both translations include additional...

First French edition of the translation (Cf. Gay 3573. Chadenat 5378 for the original English edition of 1805. See also Brunet, Table, 19960 and Graesse, III, 155).

Bound in half tan calf, smooth spine decorated with quadruple gilt and blind fillets, gilt tailpiece, marbled paper boards, speckled edges, binding slightly later.

Minor rubbing to the binding.
A member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Griffiths visited Constantinople, Smyrna, and Mytilene, then the island of Chios and the ruins of Croesus's palace at Sardis, the ancient capital of Lydia. He then traveled to Konya, Aleppo, and Basra; from there, he descended the Persian Gulf, passed through Muscat, and...

First edition illustrated with a portrait, 15 plates, and a large folding map printed in colours showing the routes.

Contemporary-style green half shagreen, spine with five raised bands lightly sunned, marbled paper boards, wrappers mounted on guards and preserved, skilfully restored at the corners, modern binding.

First edition in book form, bringing together six contributions previously published in the Revue des Deux Mondes. The archaeologist Albert Dumont (1842-1884) here records his impressions from journeys undertaken during his stay at the French School at Athens.

Signed autograph inscription by Albert Dumont to the spiritualist philosopher Adolphe Franck (1810-1893) at the head of the half-title page.

The ink of the autograph inscription has faded, minor losses to the foot of the first leaves, occasional light foxing.

Rare first edition of this study tracing the origins of An Ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States North-West of the River Ohio, adopted on 13 July 1787 by the United States Congress to organize the Northwest Territory, the first new territory incorporated into the young nation, of which Pennsylvania formed the eastern boundary.

Small losses to the unlettered spine, a dampstain to the upper margin throughout the volume, affecting the text only very marginally.

No copy recorded by the CCF. Sabin 14,327.

Edward Coles (1786-1868) also served as the second Governor of the State of Illinois from 1822 to 1826.

First edition illustrated with a large folding map bound at the rear of the first volume and 3 folding tables in the second volume (cf. Kress 5962. Goldsmiths B.20411. INED 1006. Not in Einaudi.)

Contemporary Bradel bindings in full yellow paper boards, smooth spines slightly darkened and decorated with fillets, minor rubbing to the spines, olive morocco lettering-pieces, volume numbers stamped within gilt shields, a few rubbed areas with slight losses to the paper boards, bookplates pasted onto the endpapers, contemporary bindings.

An important work from the geographical, economic, and statistical points of view alike. INED particularly notes, in volume II, the "sixth and...

First edition illustrated with 5 plates hors texte (3 portraits and 2 views) and 1 facsimile (cf. Tailliart 184).

Contemporary bindings in fawn half calf, smooth spines gilt with fillets, red shagreen title labels, black shagreen volume labels, marbled paper sides, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, bindings of the period.

Waterstaining at the end of volumes I and III.

The section relating to Algeria appears in vol. III, chap. V, pp. 127 to 164.

The author stayed in Bône as a divisional officer from December 1837 to 9 February 1838.

These few pages abound in characteristic details concerning the indiscipline of the army, its poor discipline and appearance, the...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated in the atlas volume with 11 plates and 1 large folding map (cf. Hage Chahine, 720; Chadenat, 4227; Wilson, 35 for the 1835 English edition).

Contemporary Romantic bindings in aubergine half calf, smooth spines decorated with gilt arabesque tooling, gilt rolls at head and foot, marbled-paper boards, and marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

The atlas bound in aubergine half shagreen, smooth spine decorated with gilt Romantic arabesque tooling, gilt rolls at head and foot, marbled-paper boards, and marbled endpapers and pastedowns; a modern binding executed to match the Romantic bindings of the text volumes.

Joints...

First edition illustrated with 9 copper-engraved plates hors texte after drawings by Hippolyte Jordan and Baron Charles-Louis de Coubertin (1822-1908, father of Pierre de Coubertin), including one double-page map and one folding plate.

Frédy de Blackmer 177 (calling for 17 plates).

Contemporary half cherry-red shagreen over marbled boards, spine with five raised bands showing a few rubs and darkened at the foot, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, शीर्ष edge gilt, corners lightly bumped.

A light dampstain to the edges without affecting the text, joints restored at head and foot.

The sole edition, printed in an edition of 500 copies and uncommon, of this account...

First French edition, illustrated with a lithographed frontispiece and 11 lithographed plates (bound between pp. 360–361), cf. Brunet, I, 787; Chadenat, 5323.

Full calf binding, smooth spine with gilt decorative motifs, gilt roll on the headbands, red morocco title label, gilt roll borders on the boards, handmade paper endpapers and pastedowns, gilt edges on the board edges, red page edges, contemporary binding.

Restorations to the spine, one restoration at the foot of the title page.

An epistolary account of a journey undertaken in 1802 among the Kalmyks, a nomadic people of the Astrakhan province (North Caucasus).

First edition of this colourful verse drama featuring the Conquistadors and Montezuma.

Not listed by Lorenz.

Contemporary green half calf, smooth spine tooled with gilt dots and fillets and blind fillets, some rubbing to spine, marbled-paper boards with small areas of loss and traces of recolouring, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges.

The Avignon-born author had previously published, in 1830, a verse comedy entitled "Les débuts en province". Cf. Bourquelot I, 150.

Our copy is enriched with numerous manuscript corrections in the author’s hand, together with a signed autograph presentation inscription by Paul Barbe on the recto of the final...

Rare illustrated first edition, with a large folding map at the end of the volume showing the route of the railway line linking Rosario to Puerto Belgrano.

Only copies recorded at the BnF in the CCF.

The "Ferrocarril Rosario-Puerto Belgrano" company (Rosario–Puerto Belgrano Railway) was established in the first decade of the 20th century with French capital; its promoters based their railway policy around the ports of Rosario and Arroyo Pareja.

WITH, loosely inserted on three leaves: three local printed documents relating to the liquidation (notice to creditors; verification of claims; a receipt for 8 coupons, dated 1919).

See Chalier (Gustavo): Capitaux français...

First edition illustrated with a large folding map inserted out of text: "Carte de la navigation intérieure d'une grande partie de la Russie européenne et de l'ancienne Pologne… dressée par J.D. Barbié du Bocage".

Contemporary red Russian half morocco, spine with four raised bands ruled in gilt and decorated with double gilt fillets, gilt date at foot, bottle-green morocco lettering-piece, a few minor rubs to spine and boards, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, bookplate mounted on a pastedown.

Small scuffs to the lower edge of a pastedown.

The author, a merchant of Marseilles origin, conceived the plan of establishing an economic alliance between...

First edition of this new Histoire générale des voyages, arranged and brought up to date with contemporary discoveries by Baron Charles-Athanase Walckenaer (1771-1852). Published in Paris between 1826 and 1831 in twenty-one octavo volumes, it constitutes the only portion ever completed of a project originally intended to extend to some sixty volumes. The final four volumes were prepared by Jean-Baptiste-Benoît Eyriès. Brunet V, 1041; Quérard X, 472; Gay 299; Hoefer XLVI, 498.

Contemporary half red Russia morocco with corners, spines with five raised bands, boards framed with blind fillets, marbled...

Uncommon first edition (cf. O'Reilly & Reitman, 6271: "Travail consciencieux, bien documenté et toujours utile"; Numa Broc, Océanie, pp. 377-380).

Our copy retains the two folding maps bound at the end of the first volume.

The two maps are titled: Carte de l'île Taïti d'après Vilson et les travaux récens de la frégate l'Artémise; Carte de l'archipel Taïti d'après les travaux les plus récens [et] des archipels français dans l'Océanie par Mr Vincendon-Dumoulin, 1844.

Contemporary half bottle-green sheep, spine with five raised bands gilt with scrolling tools and floral ornaments, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, spines slightly...

First edition, with three folding tables printed within the text. The title-page bears the false imprint of Yverdon; modern bibliography establishes that the book was in fact printed in Leghorn. XII, 196 pp. Brunet III, 330; Vivien de Saint-Martin, Voyages faits en Asie Mineure depuis le XIIIe siècle, no. 148; Atabey, The Ottoman World, 1126; Weber II, 595. Not in Blackmer, but see nos. 1530 and 1531.

Contemporary half brown calf with corners, smooth spine decorated with gilt lyre tools and ornamental rolls, black morocco lettering-piece, speckled paper...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with a plate showing the alphabet and a large folding map at the end of the first volume (cf. Quérard V, 561). Two modern bookplates pasted to the front pastedowns. 

Contemporary full marbled tan calf bindings, smooth spines decorated with gilt friezes (partly rubbed), blond morocco lettering-piece, lower headcap slightly damaged, some wear to joints and boards, old restorations on boards, a few bumped corners, gilt rolls on board edges, red edges.

Small ink stain and marginal tear on the map, otherwise a clean and appealing copy.

The most comprehensive work of its time devoted to the largest island of...

First edition of this scarce work entirely autograph manuscript (cf. Manque à Gay. Playfair, 2894. Tailliart, 781.)

Some light foxing, wrappers laminated.

The volume comprises letters written by Octavie Lagrange during a journey undertaken in 1864 and, for the most part, dated from Algiers: "Parmi les mosquées jadis si nombreuses les unes restent consacrées au culte musulman ; les autres ont disparu sous le marteau des démolisseurs ; celles-ci sont affectées à différents services publics ; celles-là converties en églises catholiques. […] Dans les bazars s'étalent de jolis magasins assez bien assortis ; les objets pleins d'originalité, y sentent d'une lieue le terroir, et...

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

Copies recorded in the CCFr only at the BnF, BULAC, and Tarbes libraries.

Half hazel shagreen binding with corners, smooth spine slightly faded with minor rubbing, boards, endpapers and pastedowns in olive-green paper, top edge gilt, original wrappers and spine preserved; modern binding.

The Fourierist Armand-Jules Duval (1813–1870), an influential member of the Société de géographie, was a staunch advocate of the colonisation of Algeria.

He had himself lived in the colony from 1847 to 1862, overseeing the fortunes of an agricultural...

Generally regarded as the most complete early edition of Chardin’s Travels, this imposing publication in ten volumes with a separate atlas was prepared in 1811 by Louis-Mathieu Langlès. The orientalist added a historical survey of Persia from the earliest times and an extensive critical apparatus, confronting Chardin’s text with the historical, geographical and philological scholarship of his own day. It remained the standard edition until Philip Stewart’s complete modernised and annotated text appeared in 2018.

The ten text volumes are bound in contemporary full tree calf, smooth spines richly decorated...

Unpublished manuscript logbook kept by a French naval officer, an eyewitness to the celebrated action between the Aréthuse and HMS Amelia (1813), and to the campaigns that accompanied the restoration of French authority in the West Indies.

Unpublished autograph manuscript of 189 pages (the first 31 paginated, the remainder unnumbered), kept by an anonymous French naval officer and covering, without interruption, the period from 25 November 1812 to 4 May 1823.

Contemporary half tan calf, smooth spine decorated with repeated gilt rolls and naval ornaments, burgundy calf lettering-piece, brown paper-covered boards. Spine...

First edition of the Voyage pittoresque à l'Île-de-France, au Cap de Bonne-Espérance et à l'Île de Ténériffe, published in Paris by Auguste Nepveu in 1812 and printed by Le Normant. Two octavo text volumes with an accompanying atlas. The second text volume contains three folding tables; the atlas in the present copy comprises 45 engraved plates, both single-page and folding, including three maps and 42 plans and picturesque views, most retaining their tissue guards. 

Some foxing in the text volumes and atlas.

The text volumes in slightly later...

First and only edition. This copy is one of the rare examples complete with the 64 full-page plates. The work is also illustrated with a title vignette depicting the artist Ambroise-Louis Garneray in a small boat, sketching the entrance to the port of Brest.

Contemporary binding of half tan sheep with corners, smooth spine richly decorated in gilt and blind with multiple large typographic tools, discreet restorations to the joints, marbled-paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

A magnificent work on the ports of France, and one of the finest collections ever...