GUILLAIN (Charles) - Lot 569

GUILLAIN (Charles) Documents on the history, geography and trade of East Africa. 1/ Exposé critique des diverses notions acquises sur l'Afrique orientale - 2/ Relation du voyage d'exploration à la côte orientale d'Afrique exécuté pendant les années 1846, 1847 et 1848, par le brig Le Ducouëdic. Paris, Arthus Bertrand, 1856-57. [With] Voyage à la côte orientale d'Afrique exécuté pendant les années 1846, 1847 et 1848, par le brig Le Ducouëdic sous le commandement de M. Guillain, capitaine de frégate. Album lithographié par MM. Bayot, E. Ciceri, J. Jacottet, Sabatier et Vogt, d'après des épreuves daguerriennes et les dessins de MM. Caraguel et Bridet. Paris, Arthus Bertrand, sd. 3 volumes in-8 (text); one map and one fold-out table. Scattered foxing in places - An album in folio containing 55 tinted plates and maps (numbered 1 to 54 and 27 bis), some double-page maps. ½ contemporary fawn calf, ornate smooth spines, rubbing, small accidents to headpieces, one foot cap torn off, rubbing to jaws (texts). ½ contemporary fawn calf, smooth spine rubbed, gilt fillets and title, one bit split, headpieces torn off (album). First edition. Plates after drawings and daguerreotypes by Caraguel and Bridet depicting views, landscapes, ships and ethnographic subjects. One section devoted to the Sultana of Oman and Zanzibar. Charles Guillain (1808-1875) was commissioned by the Minister of Marine to explore the east coast of Africa. He mapped the interior and coasts of this strategic region for French trade to the Indian Ocean. An exceptional atlas for the realism of its lithographed plates, using the incipient technical innovation of the daguerreotype.