RELATION DU VOYAGE À LA RECHERCHE DE LA PÉROUSE, FAIT PAR ORDRE DE L'ASSEMBLÉE CONSTITUANTE PENDANT LES ANNÉES 1791, 1792...

Pari, 1800. Two text volumes plus atlas. Text volumes: xvi,440; 332,110,[2]pp. Atlas: Title-leaf, folding chart of the Pacific, and forty-three engraved plates. Contemporary half gilt calf and boards. Slight wear to spine of atlas and outer edge of front board, else a fine set. The first edition of this narrative by the naturalist on the d'Entrecasteaux expedition in search of the great French navigator, La Pérouse, whose party disappeared without a trace in 1788. D'Entrecasteaux's party searched Australian waters and north to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, and New Caledonia. Labillardière's account is particularly interesting for its descriptions and illustrations of Tasmania and the islands mentioned above. The atlas contains important views of these areas by the artist, Piron, as well as fourteen botanical plates engraved by Redouté.

The expedition twice circumnavigated Australia, as well as its island stops, although it was beset by difficulty throughout. D'Entrecasteaux died in Batavia, and news of the French Revolution fragmented the crew and ended the expedition. The papers of the expedition fell into British hands, but were returned under a flag of truce in 1796, and Labillardière was the first to publish his account. "The expedition made several important contributions to geographical knowledge, and the investigations of the naturalists...were of special value" - Ferguson. FERGUSON 308 (octavo text vols). HILL 954. SABIN 38420. DAVIDSON, pp.105-6