SONNERAT, Pierre. - Lot 254

SONNERAT, Pierre. Voyage aux Indes orientales et à la Chine, fait par ordre du Roi, depuis 1774, jusqu'en 1781. Paris, chez l'Auteur, Froulé, Nyon et Barrois, 1782. 2 volumes in-4 (25.5 x 19.5 cm), XV-317 pp, (1) p. 79/80 plates (numbered from 1 to 80, without plate no. 5) + VIII pp, (4) ff, 298 pp, 59/60 plates (numbered from 81 to 140, without plate no. 85), 2 maps. Contemporary marbled calf, ornate smooth spine, green and red morocco titles and gilded edges (foxing, soiling and stains. Missing corner on p. 71, tear on p. 164 and small tear on p. 297, wide brown wetness on pp. 300-315, tear on p. 57, old restoration on spine of p. 61. Some numbering errors in the plates). First edition lavishly illustrated with 138/140 fine plates, including 20 double-page plates, of views, scenes of manners, costumes and natural history figures, engraved by Poisson, Milsan, Avril, Desmoulins and Fessart after drawings by Sonnerat (including a plan of Pondicherry). This famous account by naturalist and explorer Pierre Sonnerat (1748-1814) contains a wealth of documentation on the Indian Ocean, India and China, as well as the islands of southern Africa, the Maldives, the Philippines, the Moluccas... The author deals with the customs, religion, sciences and arts of the Indians, Chinese, Peguins and Madégasses, with observations on the Cape of Good Hope, the Islands of France and Bourbon, the Maldives, Ceylon, Malacca, the Philippines and the Moluccas, and research into the natural history of these countries. The first volume is devoted to rites and costumes; it contains 79/80 plates, 15 of which are double-page spreads. The second volume describes the fauna and flora in detail; it contains 59/60 plates. Ex-libris in ink blackened with watercolor on verso of first blank leaf of volume 2. Cordier, Sinica, 2102. Nissen IVB, 886. Chadenat 180, 701, 5131.