Bougainville, Louis de (John Reinhold Forster, trans.)

A Voyage Round the World. Performed by Order of His Most Christian Majesty, in the Years 1766, 1767, 1768, and 1769. London: Printed for J. Nourse & T. Davies, 1772



4to (10 1/2 x 8 1/4 in.; 267 x 210 mm). 5 engraved folding maps, one engraved folding plate; light offsetting to plate, short tears in gutter margin of two maps partially mended with linen, some light browning and very occasional spotting. 19th-century brown blind-ruled pigskin, marbled endpapers, gilt-stamped title on spine, blind inside dentelles, salmon silk place holder, gilt edges; spine sun-faded.

Hill 1:32; Sabin 6869

First edition in English, recording France's first official circumnavigation of the world.

Bougainville attempted to colonize the Falkland Islands and chart the Straits of Magellan to promote the advantages of that route to the Pacific. He visited the Tuamotu archipelago, Tahiti (with a lengthy description and vocabulary), the Samoa Islands, the New Hebrides, the Solomon, Louisiade, and New Britain archipelagoes. His voyage stimulated French interest in the Pacific, resulting in the voyages of Nicholas Marion du Fresne and Jean François de Lapérouse. The translation was made by John Forster, the naturalist aboard the Resolution on James Cook's second voyage, 1772-1775.