xxviii, 476 pp. Translated from the French by John Reinhold Forster. With 5 folding copper-engraved charts & 1 folding copper-engraved plate. (4to) 26.5x21.5 cm (10½x8½") modern full paneled calf in a period style, raised band, compartments stamped in blind, red leather spine label lettered in gilt. Custom cloth clamshell case. First Edition in English.
An attractive copy of this important account of the first official French circumnavigation of the world. Hill describes the voyage at length in his description of the 1771 French edition: "Bougainville, once an aide-de-camp to the Marquis de Montcalm in Canada, made an unsuccessful attempt to colonize the Falkland Islands. Later, on orders from his government, Bougainville handed over the Falklands to Spain. He gives an account of the discovery and occupation of the islands, called Malouines by the French and Islas Malvinas by the Spaniards; there is a chapter devoted to their natural history. Bougainville was in Buenos Aires when the order for the expulsion of the Jesuits of Paraguay arrived, which he describes in detail. He then proceeded through the Strait of Magellan and across the Pacific to the East Indies and thence home in a three year voyage which was France's first official circumnavigation of the world. The expedition visited the Tuamotu Archipelago, Tahiti, the Samoa Islands, the New Hebrides, and the Solomon, Louisiade, and New Britain archipelagoes. There is a long description of Tahiti, observations concerning the natives, and a vocabulary of 300 words used on the island given at the end of the volume. Although he made only a few important discoveries, Bougainville created a great deal of interest among the French in the Pacific, which resulted in the voyages of Nichols Marion du Fresne and Jean François de Lapérouse. The largest island in the Solomons and two straits in the Pacific bear his name, and the tropical flowering vine Bougainvillea was named after him. Later in life, Bougainville took place in the American Revolution and was made a senator and count of the Empire by Napoleon. His account confirmed Jean Jacques Rousseau's `noble savage' concept, and inspired Denis Diderot to pen his denunciation of European contact with indigenous peoples. Hill notes that the translation of this edition, though credited to John Reinhold Forster on the title-page, is actually by his son George Forster, while the elder Forster contributed the preface, dedication, and footnotes. The charts are of the world, showing Bougainville's track; the straits of Magellan; discoveries made by Bougainville in the South Pacific; a continuation of the preceding; and the Moluccas. Cox I, p.55; Hill 165; Sabin 6870.