Pacific - Australia - Lot 671

Pacific - Australia PÉRON (François) - FREYCINET (Louis-Claude Desaulses de) Voyage de découvertes aux Terres Australes, exécuté par ordre de Sa Majesté L'Empereur et Roi, sur les corvettes Le Géographe, Le Naturaliste, et la schëlette Le Casuarina, pendant les années 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803 et 1804, ... par M. F. Péron, et continué par M. Louis Freycinet. Paris, Imprimerie Impériale, 1807-15. 3 volumes in-4 of text (volumes 1 and 2: Partie historique - volume 3: Navigation et géographie); frontispiece portrait by François Péron, 2 fold-out tables. Faint scattered spotting, paper quite white, good margins - Atlas partie historique by Mrs. LESUEUR and PETIT, in 2 volumes in folio: 39/41 plates (plates 1 and 15 are missing) of portraits of natives, views of sites, tools and weapons, some in color, and 14 maps including a large fold-out - Atlas partie navigation et géographie in plano containing 32 maps, most with double pages. Text sections: contemporary shagreened blond calf, ornate smooth spines, black title and endpapers (endpapers 1 and 2 inverted), rubbing to 4 joins (3 joins split at head entries), fine garland framing the boards, slight rubbing, gilt roulette on the edges, marbled edges - 2 atlases in folio and large in folio in bindings identical to the texts, of which one atlas with a completely split jaw, and one atlas in ½ blond calf, spine similar to the other volumes with slightly different irons, marbled shagreened paper boards - Atlas in plano bound identically to the text volumes, head cap shaved, jaws split at the entries. First edition of the account of this famous expedition, which marked the apogee of the great voyages of the 18th century and provided the first detailed map of the whole of Australia. Includes plans of the city of Sydney, large fold-out views of New Holland and Timor, views of Diémen Land and New Holland, large general maps of New Holland and Napoleon Land, maps of Diémen Land, Furneaux, Hunter, King, Decrès, Institut, Forestier islands, Bonaparte & Joséphine Gulfs, as well as interesting plates of natural history, types of aborigines, utensils and costumes... Péron's voyage is one of the most interesting ever made to the Terres Australes. This mythical voyage brought back an enormous harvest of unknown documents, animals and plants. It was Péron who began the report of the voyage. After Péron's death, the second part, which he had begun in 1816, was completed by second-in-command Louis Freycinet.