Voyage autour du Monde entrepris par ordre du Gouvernement sur la Corvette La Coquille
by [DUPERREY] LESSON, René Primevère
- Used
- Condition
- Occasional foxing; joints repaired.
- Seller
-
Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Brussels edition, published in the same year as the Paris edition.
Uncommon account of the voyage of the Coquille, a French scientific expedition under the command of Louis-Isidore Duperrey. This detailed and engaging narrative was written by René Primevere Lesson, surgeon and naturalist, and includes much detail lacking in Duperrey's own account. The expedition travelled extensively throughout the Pacific, including Tahiti and the Solomons, and stopped at Port Jackson before sailing to the Bay of Islands. Lesson was a careful and lively observer. He received little formal education and joined the navy as medical assistant; here his natural aptitude was recognised and formal training as a surgeon ensued. Lesson was fascinated by natural history from a young age, and relished the many opportunities offered during the voyage of the Coquille.
Lesson describes his personal interactions with native peoples throughout the Pacific, including King Bungaree at Port Jackson, who was tasked with waiting upon the French officers with his Aboriginal companions. By the early 1820s the Pacific was undergoing rapid social change, and hopeful expectations often did not match the reality encountered. On anchoring in Tahiti the Frenchmen were disappointed, 'finding to their astonishment that this renowned South Seas paradise was turning into a strict, puritanical society ruled by fundamental English missionaries' (Dunmore). Nonetheless Lesson's observations are of lasting value, especially his vocabularies that include Māori and Aboriginal dialects.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Hordern House Rare Books (AU)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 3409317
- Title
- Voyage autour du Monde entrepris par ordre du Gouvernement sur la Corvette La Coquille
- Author
- [DUPERREY] LESSON, René Primevère
- Book Condition
- Used - Occasional foxing; joints repaired.
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Publisher
- N.-J. Gregoir, V. Wouters et Cie.
- Place of Publication
- Brussels
- Date Published
- 1839
- Note
- May be a multi-volume set and require additional postage.
Terms of Sale
Hordern House Rare Books
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About the Seller
Hordern House Rare Books
About Hordern House Rare Books
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...