Book, A Voyage Round the World, in the Years 1785, 1786, 1787, and 1788, by J. F. G. De La Pérouse in three volumes

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TitleBook, A Voyage Round the World, in the Years 1785, 1786, 1787, and 1788, by J. F. G. De La Pérouse in three volumesDate1798About this objectThese three volumes constitute the English edition of A Voyage Round the World, in the Years 1785, 1786, 1787, and 1788, by J. F. G. De La Pérouse, published in London in 1798 by J. Johnson of St Paul’s Church Yard. The work was translated from the official French edition, printed in 1797 in accordance with the Decree of the National Assembly of 22 April 1791, and edited by Louis-Antoine Milet-Mureau, Brigadier General of Engineers and Director of Fortifications. The English edition made the results of La Pérouse’s expedition accessible to an international readership at a time when the fate of the French navigator remained unknown.

Bound with marbled covers and leather spines, the three volumes contain a comprehensive narrative of the voyage, including scientific and ethnographic documentation. The expedition traced a vast route from Brest to Brazil, Chile, Rapa Nui/Easter Island, Hawai’i, Alaska, and California, before crossing the north Pacific to Macao, Manila, Taiwan, Japan, and the Kamchatka Peninsula, then travelling south through Samoa and reaching Botany Bay. The journal is accompanied by seventy copperplate engravings, including maps, coastal views, botanical studies, and representations of the peoples and cultures encountered during the voyage. The publication also incorporates memoirs and correspondence attributed to La Pérouse, providing first-hand accounts of the expedition.

The journal and engravings were compiled and created from materials dispatched by La Pérouse during the voyage. Between 1785 and 1788, he forwarded charts, journals, drawings and reports to the French Navy Minister from three locations: Macao, Kamchatka and Botany Bay. The first dispatch, sent from Macao, was carried by naturalist Jean-Nicolas Dufrense on 3 January 1787, including all charts and findings made since the expedition departed Brest. The second dispatch, sent from Kamchatka, was carried overland through Siberia to St Petersburg by Jean-Baptiste-Barthélémy de Lesseps. The third and final dispatch was sent from Botany Bay and carried by British Naval Lieutenant John Shortland. It included journals and reports made after leaving Kamchatka, including accounts of the tragic event in Samoa. Expected to return to Europe in 1789, La Pérouse and his crew were never seen since. At the time of the publication of these volumes, their fate remained a mystery, only resolved in 1826 when the Irish captain Peter Dillon discovered evidence that the two French frigates had wrecked off Vanikoro in the Solomon Islands.Object No.2015.2-1:3Inscriptions & marksVol. I - “N Crane Mapier” handwritten on title page; “Bar Is 79.56 75 pounds F270 $150.00 fine clean copy” on reverse of front cover.
Vol. II - “N Crane Mapier” handwritten in ink on title page; “Bar is 79.56” handwritten in pencil on title page.
Vol. III - “N Crane Mapier” handwritten in ink on title page; bookplate on reverse of front cover, “Ex Libris Bountiana Dr George Mackaness Australiana”.Place madeLondonMaterialPaperLeatherSourceLa Perouse MuseumOrganisations (Detailed entries)La Perouse Museum (La Perouse, N.S.W.)ThemesEuropean arrivals

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Book, A Voyage Round the World, in the Years 1785, 1786, 1787, and 1788, by J. F. G. De La Pérouse in three volumes