On Africa, Arabia, America, China etc., beautifully bound, from Säfstaholm

François Péron:

Mémoires du Capitaine Péron, sur ses voyages aux côtes d'Afrique, en Arabie, à l'île d'Amsterdam, aux îles d'Anjouan et de Mayotte, aux côtes nord-ouest de l'Amérique, aux îles Sandwich, à la Chine, etc. 1-2.

Paris, Brissot-Thivars, Libraire, 1824. 8vo. 20,5 x 12,5 cms. [4] + vi + 328; + [4] + 360 pp. With 4 folding engraved maps and plans + 2 folding lithographed plates.

Two volumes, attractive contemporary half red morocco, richly gilt spines with raised bands, marbled sides. Very slight surface wear, but fine. Pp. 229/30 in vol. 1 and pp. 126-29 in vol. 2 with small stains. Provenance: Gustaf Bonde, Säfstaholm, with lithographed bookplate ”Säftstaholms bibliotek” in each volume and gilt initials GB on spines. Bindnings by J. E. Stangenberg, Stockholm, with oval ticket in first volume.

Scarce narrative of a commercial voyage, taking sealskins and furs from the American Northwest coast to China. The voyage included some time in Australia, and Péron's description of Van Diemen's Land, his journey up the east coast of Australia, and his visit to Sydney mark this as one of few first-hand descriptions of eighteenth-century Australia. Three of the the maps detail areas of the Northwest coast of America while the fourth shows the 'île d'Amsterdam (modern Amsterdam Island or New Amsterdam), far south in the Indian Ocean, and the plates depict the marine fauna of the island and the hunting of elephant sea lions there.

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