CHAPPE d'AUTEROCHE, Jean. - Lot 24

CHAPPE d'AUTEROCHE, Jean. A Journey to Siberia Undertaken by Order of the King in 1761... Paris: Debure, 1768. 3 large in-4 volumes (33 x 24 cm). Marbled porphyry calf from the period, decorated ribbed spine with title and volume number labels, gilt title, marbled edges, whirlwind paper endpapers, double gilt fillet on the edges (spine rubbed with lightening, some wear, particularly on the cap ends, but interior remains fresh). First edition of this important account of a journey through Russia, Siberia, and Kamchatka. Copy with wide margins on fine laid paper. Abbé Chappe d’Auteroche (1728–1769), an astronomer and member of the French Academy of Sciences—after whom the lunar crater Chappe is named—was the uncle of the Chappe brothers, including Claude, the inventor of the semaphore and a telegraph entrepreneur. Famous for observing the transit of Venus across the Sun and calculating the distance between the Earth and the Moon, he set out for Russia and Siberia to conduct astronomical observations but returned with an interesting and landmark account of the Russians and their way of life. The three illustrated sections of text from the original edition of this work, excluding the atlas. The illustrations consist of a frontispiece and 57 plates, including 3 maps and a painting, all engraved in black on copper: views, genre scenes, interior scenes, works of art... drawn by Le Prince, Moreau the Younger, or Caresme de Fécamp and engraved on copper by various artists. Provenance: a copy belonging to Georges de Hemptinne, bearing his large Art Nouveau-style bookplate.