Naufrage et aventures de M. Pierre Viaud, natif de Bordeaux, capitaine de navire, histoire véritable, vérifiée sur l'attestation de M. Sevettenham, commandant du fort St. Marc des Appalaches by VIAUD, Pierre - s.d.

Bordeaux & Paris: Labottiere & Lejay, 1780. Hardcover. Very Good. 8vo (163 x 98mm). [xxiv], 307pp., (4). Contemporary mottled calf, spine with morocco letting label titled in gilt, marbled endpapers, red edges; (spine rubbed and caps chipped with some loss). Originally the account was published in 1768 with the title: Effets des passions, ou Mémoires de M. de Floricourt (London & Paris 1768), and reprinted in 1770 with the title: Naufrage et avantures de M. Pierre Viaud, natif de Bordeaux (edd. in Bordeaux (Sabin 99412) (this edition) and Neuchatel, both in 1770), followed by many other editions till far into the 19th century. In 1771 the account was translated in Dutch and English by Mrs. Griffith. The book was reprinted several times in both languages and was an 18th century international bestseller. The story tells the tale of a fateful day, the 16th of February 1766, when Le Tigre, a French merchant brigantine, was on route to New Orleans and wrecked 300 yards east of Dog Island in a great… Read More

Paris / Rue Saint Jacques, Au Grand Corneille: Chez Les Freres LA BOTTIERE Libraires / Chez LE JAY Libraire, 1770. Disbound. Good+. Title page dated 1770. French Text. XXIV Preliminary pages (Preface). Decorative Header to Main Text and Embellished Caiptal. Main text 307 p,pages + A Probation and Privilege du Roi. 7 1/4" tall. Title handwritten on endpaper. text block still firmly attached to the raised bands across spine. Penciled number on half-title page. No other inscriptions.

XXIV, 307, [4], [1 blank]; 140, [2] pp.Ad 1: 1780 edition of the adventures of the French sailor and merchant Pierre Viaud (1725), who sailed along the Gulf Coast of Florida and shipwrecked on a reef near Dog Island. As full of drama as an Indiana Jones adventure, Viaud's story became a bestseller in Europe and is still important for its early description of Florida. Ad 2: First edition of the voyage of the French horticulturist Pierre Poivre (1719-1786) to Cape of Good Hope, Madagascar, Siam, Cambodia, China, etc. Poivre travelled as missionary to China and southeast Asia, and later held some positions on Mauritius, where he created a botanical garden.With two bookplates on paste-down ("A. Jouffray" and "Colonel Ph. Milon"), a manuscript inscription on half-title of ad 1, and another on the title-page of ad 2. Overall in very good condition.l Ad 1: Huntress 80C; Polak 9438; Sabin 99412; ad 2: Cordier, Bibliotheca Indosinica, col. 2495; Kress B.222; Sabin 63716.