A Voyage Round The World. Performed by Order of His Most Christian Majesty, In the Years 1766, 1767, 1768, and 1769.Translated from the French By John Reinhold Forster, F.A.S.

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4to. pp. xxviii, 476. 5 folding engraved maps & 1 folding engraved plate. contemporary sprinkled calf, rebacked with gilt spine mounted (some scraping to covers, but a nice copy). First Edition of the English Translation of the official account of the first French circumnavigation. Bougainville was instructed by the French government to surrender possession of the Falkland Islands to Spain and then to proceed across the Pacific to the East Indies. On his voyage he visited Tahiti, which he believed he was the first to discover, naming it Nouvelle Cythère , unaware of Wallis s prior exploration, the Solomon Islands, Tuamotu Archipelago, and the New Hebrides. The largest island in the Solomons and two straits in the Pacific were named after him. The narrative includes an account of the discovery and occupation of the Falkland Islands, and a lengthy description of Tahiti and its inhabitants. Bougainville s expedition stimulated great interest in France, and bolstered European romantic notions of a South Sea paradise inhabited by noble savages . Despite the attribution on the title-page, the translation was probably done by Georg Forster, while his father, Johann Reinhold, supplied the preface, dedication, and footnotes. Bell B423. Cox I 55. Hill p. 32. Howgego B142. JCB II 1816. Kroepelien 113. National Maritime Museum Cat. I 133. Sabin 6869 (not mentioning plate). Seller Inventory # elala2546

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