Voyage autour du monde, par les mers de l'Inde et de Chine, exécuté sur la corvette de l'état La Favorite pendant les années 1830, 1831 et 1832

First edition. The first 2 volumes were published in 1833, the second 2 in 1835. One large folding map and numerous tables (Temperatures, meteorology...) at the end; 4 title vignettes and tailpieces depicting ships or scenes at the end of each chapter. This edition is complete as such (BNF Notice no.: FRBNF30738909), it was the publisher Arthus Bertrand who republished the text in 1835 (and who was the depository of the royal printing house for voyages) by adding 3 atlases that completed the publication at various dates, a hydrographic atlas, a zoological atlas (octavo, 1839) and an album of aquatint voyage illustrations, all in folio format; these very expensive and particularly sumptuous atlases are rarely found with the texts.
Following the notes of volume IV, Mémoires sur les opérations géographiques par M. Serval (notably on the 4 marine chronometers by Berthoud that were carried on the ships).
Contemporary light cardboard bindings. Smooth spines decorated with fillets. Brown morocco title labels and volume labels. Spines slightly darkened. Evidence of rubbing. Some corners turned. Scattered foxing. A good copy.
Commissioned by the government to reestablish French influence in the Pacific and commercial agreements, La Favorite also departed with a scientific purpose which it fully realized. The expedition to the southern lands departed from Toulon in December 1829 and returned in April 1832. Following the African coasts, the expedition reached Pondicherry, Cochinchina, Tonkin, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, and returned crossing the Pacific, then followed the coasts of Brazil, to finally reach Toulon via the Atlantic. The account and descriptions are extremely rich and detailed, aiming for a certain objectivity; the narrator simply describes what he sees, without scientific considerations. The mission made a stopover at Bourbon Island, and numerous stopovers in all coastal cities, Macao, Canton, Manila, Valparaiso, Rio de Janeiro...