lot 331 in the auction of 25 May 2024
Van de Wiele Auction - Bruges
An extremely rare and desirable set of the first edition of DUMONT d'URVILLE's voyage in the ASTROLABE. This important voyage was one in a great series undertaken by the French government in the late 18th and early 19th centuries for scientific and political purposes. The Astrolabe sailed south, around the Cape of Good Hope, and arrived at Port Jackson. Proceeding to NEW ZEALAND, its coast, especially the southern part of Cook Strait, was surveyed with great care. Tonga and parts of the Fiji Archipelago were explored, then New Britain, New Guinea, Amboina, Tasmania, Vanikoro, Guam and Java. The return home was by way of Mauritius and the Cape of Good Hope.
These atlases contain what are generally acknowledged to be some of the finest plates ever produced of the natural history, topography, and anthropology of the AUSTRALIA and the South-West Pacific. Most of the fine topographical views are after drawings of the artist Louis Auguste de SAINSON (1800-1874).
Jules Dumont d'Urville died in a terrible railway accident in 1842. In better days he was involved in the discovery of the Venus de Milo

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