Jules Dumont d'Urville | Voyage de découvertes de la corvette l'Astrolabe, Paris, 1830-1833, 20 vols, green half morocco

Jules Dumont d'Urville

Voyage de découvertes de la corvette l'Astrolabe. Paris: J. Tastu, 1830-1833

12 text volumes, 8vo (229 x 143mm.), 1 further text volume, 4to (307 x 236mm.), comprising: Atlas Historique (5 volumes), plain lithographed frontispiece portrait and 8 plain lithographed plates in volume 1; Zoologie (4 volumes), 8 plain lithographed plates at end of volume 3; Entemologie (1 volume); Philologie (1 volume); Botanique (1 volume); Hydrographie (1 volume), 2 engraved folding tables, further in-text illustrations and tables throughout text volumes

6 atlas volumes, folio (521 x 344mm.), 1 further atlas volume, large folio (634 x 487mm.), comprising: Atlas Historique (3 volumes), plain engraved portrait, plain engraved title, 243 plain engraved plates; Zoologie (2 volumes), 209 engraved plates, some hand-coloured and heightened in gum arabic (including duplicates of a few plates); Botanique (1 volume), engraved title, 80 engraved plates, some hand-coloured; Hydrographie (1 volume), engraved title, 45 plain engraved plates

20 volumes in all, uniformly bound in contemporary dark green half morocco over later marbled boards, gilt edges, marbled endpapers, atlas volumes rebacked, some spotting throughout, extremities rubbed with joints of 4to text volume becoming fragile

An impressive set of the records of the voyage of the Astrolabe, recounting scientific and cartographical research across varied subject areas, with engraved illustrations and tables. The famous circumnavigation by the Astrolabe was captained by Jules Dumont d'Urville (1790– 1842), a naval officer with a keen interest in botany and cartography, who encouraged the scientific research of the natural world of the Pacific. 

d'Urville was a timid young man, having had a difficult childhood. He failed his school entrance exams and entered the navy, excelling due to his diligence and dedication. He became an impressive linguist, learning not only classical and Europeans languages but Pacific dialects as well, educating himself at the same time in botany and entomology. On his first expedition, a hydrographic survey of the Greek Mediterranean, he was involved in the discovery of the Venus de Milo, a Hellenistic marble statue dating from the 2nd century B.C.E., procuring the statue for the Louvre, which earned him the title of Lieutenant. On the voyage of the Coquille, Dumont discovered the Adélie penguin, and brought back to France an impressive collection of specimens, giving his name to numerous varieties of seaweed from the waters around New Zealand. He embarked on a circumnavigation of the globe aboard the Astrolabe, mapping areas of the Pacific for the first time, and performing essential botanical and scientific research: the present volume, his record of this journey, was written on his return, funded by the French government. However, he was obsessed by embarking on a third Pacific voyage. This led to his Antarctic expedition which was was a journey marred with numerous difficulties, simultaneous with personal losses, and the deterioration of Dumont's own health. He died in a train accident in 1842, leaving behind an unequalled legacy of Pacific exploration.

LITERATURE:

Nissen ZBI 1199; Stafleu TL2 1556

PROVENANCE:

Bodleian Library, armorial bookplates with de-accession stamps to titles