Second German edition, uncut and with wide margins, of this illustrative account of two journeys to Surinam and, on his way back to Europe, the east coast of America. The first German edition was published in Berlin in 1818. The first part, although originally written in German, was in fact first published in English with the title: A Narrative of a voyage to Surinam ... (London 1810, see Sabin 74750). A Dutch translation of this first part was published in Haarlem, in the same year as the present second German edition. The account was written in the form of 17 letters to an unknown addressee. It includes also an interesting account of the author's visit to Barbados and the cities on the east coast of America, and an appendix of 18 pages describing the plants, animals, birds, reptiles, etc. of Surinam.
The frontispiece in volume 1 depicting the ship Jason with a dolphin hunting for a flying fish and plate IV in volume 1 of a black slave sowing cotton plants are taken from the first English edition. The other plates are engraved in Berlin and depict among other things the Governors house in Paramaribo (plate V, the illustration on the title page of volume 2), the steamer Phoenix of the second journey with a view of the city of Philadelphia in the background and two Indians in the foreground (plate VI), the map of the interior of Surinam (plate VII), the flora and fauna of Surinam (plates VIII-IX), and two plates of a steamer: plan and side view (plates X-XI).
Sebastian Albert Freiherr von Sack (d. Berlin 1828), since 1821 Count von Sack, was a royal chamberlain, a knight of St. John, but above all an explorer who liked to travel. He made his first journey, described in volume 1 of the present work, to Surinam in 1805. From there, he went to North America in 1807, where he visited the cities Providence, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, and Alexandria. He made his return-journey to Germany via New York and Lisbon. Sack's second journey to Surinam, as described in volume 2, started in 1810 and ended in England in 1812. In this second volume, he describes among other things the climate, topography and geography of Surinam, its inhabitants, including the Indians and "bosnegers", the trade with foreign countries from 1700 to 1784, adding many interesting observations on slavery. Both parts are very interesting accounts of two long voyages including many letters, accounts of other authors, digressions on poisonous snakes, yellow fever, Indians in northern America, and steamships.
From the library of Empress Marie Louise, later Duchess of Parma, the second wife of Napoleon I Bonaparte (Vienna 1791-Parma 1847). With her crowned initials on both boards of both volumes. She was the mother of Napoleon II, King of Rome. Her library may be considered one of the finest ever collected by an individual collector. As Duchess of Parma, Marie Louise continued to collect books with fervour and developed her collection to be one of the most beautiful libraries ever privately owned by any monarch.
With the 16-page-long introduction of M. Breslauer's catalogue tipped in in the first volume and a small clipping relating to Breslauer's catalogue and the provenance of the present work mounted on the front pastedown of volume 1, containing the manuscript note in Dutch: "gekocht sept. 1933". The bindings show very slight signs of wear around the edges and corners of the boards and the spine. Overall in very good condition and with a remarkable provenance. Breslauer, Verzeichnis 50: Naturwissenschaften und Reisen aus der Bibliothek der Kaiserin Marie Louise (1933), 1134; Sabin 74749, note; Tiele 953.