Choris, Louis

A fine group of watercolor drawings for his Voyage Pittoresque autour du Monde (published in Paris by Didot, 1820-1822), aboard the Rurik, 1815-1818



6 watercolor drawings on board, various sizes from 9 3/4 x 17 to 4 1/2 x 4 in.; 248 x 432 to 115 x 102 mm, each with a manuscript caption in French, all matted save for the last which is mounted.

See (on the printed version) Forbes, Hawaiian National Bibliography, 541; Graff 699; Hill I, pp. 51-52

6 watercolor drawings on board, various sizes from 9 3/4 x 17 to 4 1/2 x 4 in.; 248 x 432 to 115 x 102 mm, each with a manuscript caption in French, all matted save for the last which is mounted.
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An extraordinary set of watercolor illustrations drawn by Choris from life during his passage on the second Russian circumnavigation under the command of Otto von Kotzebue (1788-1846) aboard the brig Rurik. The images include sensitive portraits of Chilean Indians, costumes, musical instruments and two native palm trees.

Sailing from Kronstadt in July 1815, the expedition crossed the Atlantic, rounded Cape Horn, and arrived at Petropavlovsk in June of the following year. From Kamchatka, the expedition explored the Bering Strait and the Aleutians, then sailed south to San Francisco. After a month-long visit there they went to Kauai, Unalaska, back to the Bering Strait, and after repairs in Manila, rounded South Africa and back to Kronstadt in July 1818.

Louis Choris (1795-1828) was the artist attached to the expedition, whose drawings, many transferred by the artist to stone, were lithographed as illustrations for the Voyage. "Spectacular and early lithographically illustrated travel account that has always been considered one of the most beautiful and important colorplate books of the Northern Pacific" (Forbes 541). Other examples of his work are found at the Honolulu Academy of Arts.