Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - April - 2010 Issue
Voyages, Americana, Atlases, Science and More from Les Trois Islets
Barbe-Marbois' map of Louisiana, which doubled the size of the United States.
The disappearance of La Perouse was a great concern in France, leading King Louis XVI to send out a mission to locate the missing ships. This mission was headed by Antoine Entrecasteaux, one of the nation's leading commanders. He was unable to locate La Perouse's ships or solve the mystery, but he did much to chart the coast of Australia, providing some of the best maps of the area to the time. Unfortunately, the timing was terrible. While Entrecasteaux and his men were at sea, revolution broke out in France, the King was overthrown, and the sailors broke down between those who supported the monarchy and those who supported the revolution. Entrecasteaux died without making it home while his officers sought protection from the Dutch in Java. The account, published in 1807, is entitled, Voyage de Dentrecasteaux, envoye a la Recherche de la Perouse. Item 69. €18,500 (US $25,050).
For a look at Egypt and its pyramids from the late 18th century, item 39 is Luigi Mayer's Views in Egypt, from the Original Drawings, in the Possession of Sir Robert Ainslie, taken during the Embassy to Constantinople. One doesn't have to be a geographer to realize Constantinople is not in Egypt, but Ainslie was the British ambassador to that city from 1776-1792, and near the end of that period, he hired Mayer to travel to Egypt and execute some drawings. Mayer was a skilled draftsman who executed these 48 illustrations. €4,500 (US $6,088).
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