SONNERAT, Pierre.
Voyage aux Indes Orientales et à la Chine, fait par ordre de Louis XVI, depuis 1774 jusqu'en 1781; dans lequel on traite des moers, de la religion, des sciences et des arts des Indiens, des Chinois, des Pégouins et des Madégasses; suivi d'observations sur le Cap de Bonne-Espérance, les îles de France et de Bourbon, les Maldives, Ceylan, Malacca, les Philippines et les Moluques, et de rechereches sur l'histoire naturelle de ces pays, etc, etc. ... Nouvelle édition.
Paris, Dentu, 1806. 4 text volumes (8vo) and 1 atlas (4to). With 140 numbered engraved plates: a double-page plan of the city of Pondichéry, India, 19 double- and 120 single-page views and plates. Contemporary red half sheepskin (text) and modern red half cloth (atlas). Text volumes: XXVIII, 372; [4], 445; [4], 412, [2]; [4], 488, [1] pp.
€ 4,500
Much enlarged edition of a classic of natural history and discoveries in the Far East, including China, Ceylon, Malacca, the Philippines, Burma and the Maldives by Pierre Sonnerat (1748-1814), a well-known French naturalist and explorer. Sonnerat made several voyages to southeast Asia, visiting the Philippines and Moluccas between 1769 and 1772, and India and China from 1774 to 1781. Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoucourt (1751-1812) contributed much to this edition. "... in his two major publications it is evident that his insight into other civilisations gave a strong impetus in Europe to the spread of a fashionable interest in the religion, arts, and customs of India and the Indian Archipelago" (DSB).
A very good set, atlas volume untrimmed. Lust 354; Pritzel 8774; for Sonnerat: DSB XII, pp. 535-537.
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