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4to. xiv + 298 + [2]p. With 24 maps and plans (17 folding) by A. Bercy le fils and Fonbonne, and 13 plates (1 folding) engraved by N. Guerard le fils and J. B. Scotin; ornamental engraved vignette and historiated initials preceding dedication, some musical notation in the text. Ornamental woodcuts and initials. 19th century half calf; spine gilt with armorial stamp gilt-stamped on tailend of spine. First edition of a classic in the literature on South American voyages of exploration. Frézier (1682-1737), a military engineer from Savoy, sailed to Chile and Peru in 1712 with a French commission to assess the strength of Spanish settlements on the Pacific coast. His account of the expedition was much valued as an early contribution to the hydrographical knowledge of the region, but is today of interest for its keen observations on the life, customs, commerce, and natural history of Chile, Peru, and Brazil. The author was the first Frenchman to accomplish an accurate chart of the Straits of Magellan and of the region round Cape Horn, and his work served as a guide to later navigators. The folding plans of the cities visited are often enhanced by inset panoramic views, as in the case of Callao, Concepción, Valparaíso, La Serena, Salvador de Bahía, and Angra (Azores). The chapters on Indian and creole life include descriptions of costume and architecture, music and dancing (pp232-233), food and drink, and pastimes, with plates showing male and female costume, the ritual of drinking maté (Paraguayan tea), Chilean Indians playing the Sueca , a game resembling hockey, flour-making, etc. On pp241-246 the author describes the cruel and mean treatment of the Indians by the creoles, who were not permitted to have Indians as slaves, and therefore favoured their African slaves imported from Angola and Guinea via Portobello and Panama; these in turn were not allowed to mix with the Indians and adopted their masters condescension towards them. The Indians consequently nurtured an implacable hatred of both the creoles and their slaves, and hid away provisions and any mineral riches they might discover. The section on Brazil treats the island of Santa Catharina (pp17-27), and Bahia, (pp272-279), then the country s capital, where the author comments on the African slave trade and on the large population of Jews; a folding plate represents two negro slaves carrying a passenger in a sedan chair. Frézier s studies of natural history are only remembered today for bringing back Chilean strawberry plants which were successfully propagated in France by Bernard de Jussieu, and here illustrated life-size on plate XI. There are descriptions of the maté tea plant (pp228-230), of the coca plant (pp246-247), of guano (p137), and plates representing the cotton plant, exotic fishes and llamas. Light foxing at beginning and end, otherwise a good copy. Borba de Moraes 328; Hill, p115; Leclerc 1736; Palau 94964. Seller Inventory # 5710
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Bibliographic Details
Title: Relation du voyage de la mer du Sud aux ...
Publisher: Paris, J. G. Nyon, E. Ganeau & J. Quillau, 1716.
Publication Date: 1716
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
Edition: 1st Edition
