Kerguelen-Tremarac, Yves-Joseph de.

First edition, 8vo (197 x 120mm.), half-title, folding engraved chart, 2 privilege leaves at end, contemporary mottled calf, flat spine gilt, d'Héricourt armorial bookplate, [Spence 650; du Rietz 641; Sabin 37218 (omitting the chart); not in Hill]

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
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A fine copy of a rare work: most of the edition was suppressed by the French government, supposedly because of the dedication 'A la Patrie'. Kerguelen's two voyages (1771-1774) were, unlike that of Marion de Fresne and Crozet, commissioned by the French government in the hope of discovering the southern continent of Gonneville, as the French answer to the discoveries of Cook. On the first, he discovered the islands that now bear his name, believing them to be part of the continent itself. His other ship, Gros Venture, commanded by St. Allourn, became separated from Kerguelen's vessel and made a relatively high southern track from the island to Shark Bay, Cape Leeuwin and Dirk Hartog Island (the first French landfalls on the Australian coast) before going on to Timor, thence to Mauritius.
The second expedition was at first intended to settle Gonneville land and was then modified to a circumnavigation at the highest possible southern latitude. In the event Kerguelen abandoned the expedition after having reached the islands for the second time. French disappointment expressed itself in court-martial and imprisonment. However, this cannot detract from Kerguelen's place in the early history of Antarctic exploration. In addition to the account, the work also includes chapters on the American War of Independence, the navy and scurvy.