Bougard, René – John Thomas Serres, trans.

The Little Sea Torch: or, True Guide for Coasting Pilots: by which they are clearly instructed how to navigate along the Coasts of England, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Sicily ... the Coast of Barbary, from Cape Bon to Cape de Verd. London: T. Rickaby for the author and others, 1801



Folio (16 ¾ x 10 ½ in.; 425 x 267 mm). Twenty handcolored aquatint plates each showing two or more coastal views, 24 handcolored maps on 12 sheets engraved by John Luffman; text leaves carefully washed, some light spotting and staining mostly confined to text leaves and to the margins of aquatints, a few tiny abrasion marks on five aquatints, worm hole in upper outer corner entering plate mark of 3 aquatints. Half calf and marbled boards, spine gilt with gold-stamped title label.

Abbey, Life in England 344; Cat. Nat. Mar. Mus. 218; Pastoureau, Bougard N; Phillips & LeGear 2852

First English edition of Bougard's Le Petit Flambeau de la Mer, a pilot's guide to coastal navigation originally published in 1684 and extensively revised for the present edition by Serres. The coastal profiles show many spectacular cliffs and rock formations, numerous lighthouses (an important source for their history), fortresses and occasionally other buildings, as well as ships and smaller boats, a large view of the whole city of La Valette on Malta, and three smoking volcanoes (Vesuvius, Stromboli, and Etna). The text includes information on the Barbary Coast, and islands and coasts en route to the East Indies.

This is the first major revision to the maps and views of the Petit Flambeau, which saw minor changes of content from 1684 to 1716 only. The watermark noted by Abbey appears only in the letterpress sheets ("1799"); the plates are watermarked  "[script] E & P|1796."