VENDU
4 parts in 2 volumes, 4to (248 x 190 mm). First voyage: engraved frontispiece, XVI, 194 pp., 5 engraved plates for part I; title, pp. 195-400, 6 engraved paltes for part II. Second Voyage : IV, XVI, 240 pp., engraved plates 1-6 for part I; 2 nn.ll., 373 pp., 1 nn.l., engraved plates 7 to 18 and plates Vbis, VIIIbis, XIbis (used twice) for part II. Uniformly bound in contemporary tree-calf, flat spines gilt, lettering piece respectively in orange and black morocco, red speckled edges (binding by Caillaud, with his label).
1 in stock
Gay, 3118.
First edition, deluxe issue in quarto format, of the reports of the two voyages made by François Levaillant (1753-1824) to Africa.
François Levaillant or Le Vaillant (1753 – 1824) was a French explorer, naturalist, zoologist and ornithologist. The son of a French consul, he was born in Paramaribo, the capital of Surinam. He is credited with the first description of the giraffe. In 1781, the treasurer of the Dutch East India Company sent him to the Cape Province in South Africa. He collected numerous specimens in the region, bringing more than 2,000 bird specimens back to France. A second trip (1783-1784) took him north of the Orange River, to Namaqualandý.
The first work is decorated with 12 engraved plates (including the frontispiece) and is complete with the famous image showing the Hottentot woman with her "apron"; the second voyage is complete with its 21 plates (numbered 1-18, and 3 plates marked 'bis') including the two engravings showing male and female giraffe.
Very fine copies, well preserved in a fine binding by Caillaud, based in La Rochelle. In addition to his address (28 rue du Palais), the label indicates that Caillaud was a bookbinder and stationer.
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