Choris Voyage Pittoresque with Vues et Paysages des

CHORIS, Louis (1795-1828). Voyage Pittoresque Autour de Monde, avec des portraits de sauvages d'Am‚rique, d'Asie, d'Afrique, et des iles du Grand Ocean; des Paysages, des Vues Maritimes, et plusieurs objets d'histoire naturelle; Accompagne‚ de Descriptions par M. le Baron Cuvier, et. Paris: Imprimerie de Firmin Didot, 1822-[?1823]. Folio (17 x 10 inches). Dedication. Lithographic frontispiece portrait of Romanzoff and 104 hand-colored plates from drawings by the author, folding map with route traced in color, 2 further maps on one leaf bound at end of volume (lacking the list of subscribers and directions to binder, some scattered pale spotting). Contemporary French red quarter morocco, smooth spine gilt, marbled boards, uncut (rebacked preserving original spine, board extremities a bit worn). Guidance: Christie's, 2007 - $156,000. Provenance: Peter Decker (his sale Parke Bernet, 18 November 1969, lot 102); Bookplates of Frank Sherwin Streeter (1918-2006) (Collection of Important Navigation, Pacific Voyages, Cartography and Science). "ONE OF THE VERY VALUABLE AND FUNDAMENTAL WORKS ON ALASKA, CALIFORNIA, AND THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS" (Lada-Mocarski) VERY RARE FULLY COLORED COPY OF THE FIRST EDITION of Choris' splendid plates to illustrate Kotzebue's world voyage of 1815-1818 on which he was expedition artist.
Essentially, this is an illustrated album recording only the most memorable facts of the voyage but with full explanations of the plates--more of which relate to California, Hawaii, Kamchatka and Alaska than any other work of the period--and the Philippines, Chile and Easter Island. It is arranged in 8 sections which were first sold in 22 livraisons, 1820-1822 (although both Brunet and Howes state that publication ended in 1823). Two title-pages were printed, dated 1820 to accompany the first livraison, and 1822 for the successive parts. There was only one issue of the text and plates, according to Forbes, and although a lithographic portrait of the artist is found in a few copies, its presence does not constitute an issue point. Indeed, it may have been produced only after the work was completed. The text was written and edited by J.B. Eyries and the list of subscribers accounts for 188 copies. Two variant plates are noted by bibliographers, both present here: plate II for the Sandwich Islands shows Kamehameha in a black robe, and plate XVI has been re-worked to include a lush background with the artist seated in the foreground watching dancers. Choris' manuscript text of the voyage was never published but his album is highly prized for its beauty and its historical record. Forbes writes that it contains "a final and very beautiful pictorial examination of the Hawaiian Islands and of Hawaiian culture as it existed prior to the death of Kamehameha I in 1819, and prior to the abolition of the 'kapu' or feudal system following the king's death." Brunet I:1851 (calling for 110 plates); Forbes 541; Hill 290; Howes C-397; Lada-Mocarski 84; Peters California on Stone pp. 97-98; Sabin 12884; Streeter sale IV:2461. [Bound with:] CHORIS, Louis. Vues et Paysages des R‚gions quinoxiales, recueillis dans un voyage autour du monde, avec une introduction et un texte explicatif. Paris: Paul Renouard, 1826. Folio. Half-title. 2 dedication leaves. 24 hand-colored lithographed plates. FIRST EDITION OF THIS RARE ALBUM made by Choris on Kotzebue's voyage in the Rurik to the Pacific, 1815-1818. These fine views were not published in either his Voyage Pittoresque (1822) or in Kotzebue's account of the voyage (published in Weimar, 1821), and include scenes in South America, Easter Island, Hawaii, Kamchatka, the Marianas, Manila, Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena. Choris was expedition artist on Russia's second circumnavigation which sailed through the South Seas and north to Alaska in search of the North-West Passage. The plates were first issued in six parts in wrappers, with explanatory text bound-in, and the plates plain or colored. This copy is one of a few known to have a further dedication to Emperor Nicholas I on a single-leaf, dated 1827. Borba de Moraes I:180; Forbes 632; Lada-Mocarski 90; Sabin 12885. Not in Hill.