Lefebvre, Theophile | Striking depictions of an important 19th century French exploration of Ethiopia

Lefebvre, Theophile

Voyage en Abyssinie exécuté pendant les années 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843...Histoire Naturelle Zoologie...Atlas... [Bound with:] Voyage en Abyssinie...Album historique, ethnologique et archeologique... [And with:] Tentamen Florae Abyssinicae... Icones. Paris: Arthus Bertrand, 1847-1851

3 volumes in 2, folio (489 x 344 mm). 203 plates mounted on guards, comprising: [Atlas Zoologie:] 40 hand-colored engraved plates of mammals, birds, reptiles and fish, and insects, 1 plate of fossils bound at end; [Album Historique, Ethnologique et Archéologique:] 59 lithographed plates, 33 of which colored and 3 of which folding); [Atlas Botanique:] 103 engraved plates. Contemporary green morocco-backed marbled boards, flat spines in compartments with wide black bands, spines gilt-lettered, marbled endpapers. 

The complete atlas volumes to an important 19th century French exploration of Ethiopia

Originally from Nantes, Theophile Lefebvre sailed in the Greek archipelago, then in the South Seas on the Venus and participated in a scientific trip to Brazil in 1836. On his return, he went to Cairo where he learned Arabic and Amharic. In 1837, convinced of the strategic importance of Ethiopia, he set about setting up a scientific and commercial expedition, with the support from the French government. "Accompanied by the negotiator Francois Dufey, the zoologist A. Petit, the surgeon Aubert-Roche, and the botanist Quartin-Dillon, the mission proceeded from Massawa through the territories of Tigre, Shoa, and Gojam, and around Lake Tana and Gondar. Lefebvre amassed a vast store of geographical, sociological, archaeological and linguistic data" (Howgego).

The results of the expedition were published over two years, in six volumes of large octavo text and three folio atlases, as follows: Relation (two octavo volumes, including a folding map); Itineraire (one octavo volume); Historique (folio atlas); Botanique (two octavo volumes and a folio atlas); Zoologique (one octavo volume and a folio atlas). Present here are all three folio atlases, bound in two volumes.

From the library of Frederick du Cane Godman, natural historian and author of the monumental Biologia Centrali-Americana

PROVENANCE

Frederick du Cane Godman (bookplate)

REFERENCE

McGill/Wood 430; Nissen, ZBI 2420; Fumagalli, Bibliografia Etiopica 1893, No. 189; Gay 2653; Broc, Africa 195-196; Howgego E19; Brunet III:923