Voyage in Search of La Perouse.
Labillardiere, Jacques J. H. de.
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Book Id: 5226
Description
Labillardiere, Jacques J. H. de. Voyage in Search of La Perouse Performed by order of the Constituent Assembly during the years 1791, 1792, 1793 & 1794. John Stockdale, London 1800. 2 vols, 8vo, (xxxii) 33-487 (&) 5-344pp & 105 pp appendix. Large folding map & 45 copper engraved plates, many folding. Early half red calf & marbled boards rubbed and dusty o/w a pleasant contemporary copy. Ferguson 310, Hill p. 168. Hill cites this as the first English edition, while Ferguson cites a 4to edition published in the same year - it is possible that the two editions were published simultaneously. La Perouse visited many ports on his circumnavigational voyage. The last known stop was to Botany Bay in the fledgling colony of New South Wales - thereafter there was no news of them. After three years, the French government sent out two search ships, under d'Entrecasteaux and Kermadee. Labillardiere was one of the naturalists aboard, and although the search for La Perouse was unsuccessful, the voyage greatly advanced knowledge of the natural history and charting of Tasmania, the Solomon Islands and New Guinea.
