Journal d'un baleinier. Voyages en Océanie

First edition, very scarce (see O'Reilly, Nouvelle Calédonie, 175. O'Reilly & Reitman 1246. Ferguson 16990-91. Hill p. 290. Forbes, Hawaiian National Bibliography, III, 2730. Martin, Hawai‘i, p. 48. Jenkins, Bibliography of Whaling, p. 150. Vaucaire p. 259).

Contemporary bindings in red half morocco-grained sheep over marbled boards, spines with four raised bands ruled in black, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved (except rear wrapper of vol. I), modern bindings.

Some foxing, mainly at the beginning of the first volume.

The chapter on New Caledonia spans pp. 257 to 350 of volume I; the one on Tahiti covers pp. 177 to 282 of volume II.

The author also visited and described Tasmania, the Chesterfield and Bampton Islands, New Zealand, Hawaii, and the Sandwich Islands.

See Forbes’ entry referencing the Hawaiian content: "Thiercelin made two Pacific voyages. The first was on the whaleship Ville de Bordeaux, which departed from Havre January 5, 1837, and returned January 5, 1841. He states (p. 284) that at the end of September 1839 the ship spent several weeks at Waimea, Kauai. This narrative concentrates on his second voyage on the Gustav, which departed from Havre, April 7, 1863, and returned in 1865. During the course of this voyage (particularly with respect to New Zealand and to Hawaii) the author describes conditions observed on his first voyage (…) A chapter titled Atouai [in vol. II] describes Waimea, Kauai (pp. 283-326)". Thiercelin had previously taken part in several whaling expeditions as ship’s doctor before embarking on this journey through Oceania and the Pacific. "[He] was greatly interested in the actual proceedings of a whale hunt and wished to experiment with new harpoons as a surer and speedier method of keeling whales (…) This book offers an interesting account of whaling vessels and their crews, a detailed description of the different types of whales, details of the actual whale hunt, and explanations of some of the newer whaling techniques such as poisoned harpoons and harpoons with explosive charges propelled by gun-like mechanisms" [Hill].