Description du Cap de Bonne-Esperance, où l'on trouve tout ce qui concerne l'histoire naturelle du pays, la religion, les moeurs & les usages des Hottentots; et l'établissement des Hollandois.

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3 volumes in 8vo. [10]f + 370 + [1]p; [7]f + 228p; [10]f + 280p. With engraved allegorical frontispiece to vol I, titles in red & black with vignette, 25 engraved plates (1 folding) and 5 folding maps. Original marbled publisher's wrappers, untrimmed. First French edition of this classic description of South Africa with accounts of the native Hottentots, the Dutch settlements and their modes of existence; it contains the earliest description of the local fauna. Vol. I, chapter XVI (pp241 - 259) concerns the food of the Hottentots; chapter XVII (pp259 - 271) their childbirth practices; Vol. II, chapter IX (pp121 - 159) details the diseases of the Europeans in the Cape and their methods of cure. The attractive plates based on those of the Dutch edition of 1727, include a fine, folding view of the Cape of Good Hope, representations of the Hottentot natives and a variety of animals, and folding maps of the East Coast, the Cape and Cape Colony. 'Exact and detailed description of the Cape of Good Hope, containing a very circumstantial account of . its settlements, harbour, fortress, form of government, extent, and the regions recently discovered in its vicinity; together with an erudite description of the climate and soil of the territory, of its animals, fishes, birds, plants and herbs .' (Mendelssohn). A fresh copy in its original state, untrimmed. Ford Bell IV, 124. Landwehr, VOC, 585. Nederlandsch Historisch Scheepvaart Museum, Catalogus, I, p207. Tiele 806 (notes). This edition not in Mendelssohn who lists the Dutch edition (I, 842). Seller Inventory # 704

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