Bougainville's Voyage Around the World 1772

Heading:
Author: Bougainville, Louis Antoine de
Title: A Voyage Round the World. Performed by Order of His Most Christian Majesty, in the Years 1766, 1767, 1768, and 1769
Place Published: Dublin
Publisher:J. Exshaw, H. Saunders, J. Potts et al
Date Published: 1772
Description:

xxvii, 478 pp. Translated from the French by John Reinhold Forster. Illustrated with 1 large folding world map of voyage, 1 folding plate illustration. 20.5x12 cm (8x4¾") original brown calf, raised band, label stamped in blind, edges cut. Dublin Edition.

With only a single folding map instead of five, this edition was printed in the same year as the first English edition. Important account of the first official French 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. Cox I, p.55; Hill 165; Sabin 6869.
Condition Report: Wear to leather with flaking and rubbing, rear cover detached, front joint cracked, spine split down center; map has small stub tear and some repairs, marginal toning, interior bright throughout; good internally, deserving of repair.