Author: SONNERAT, Pierre.
Title: Voyage aux Indes Orientales et à la Chine, fait par ordre de Louis XVI, depuis 1774 jusqu'en 1781; dans lequel on traite des moers, de la religion, des sciences et des arts des Indiens, des Chinois, des Pégouins et des Madégasses; suivi d'observations sur le Cap de Bonne-Espérance, les îles de France et de Bourbon, les Maldives, Ceylan, Malacca, les Philippines et les Moluques, et de rechereches sur l'histoire naturelle de ces pays, etc, etc. … Nouvelle édition.Paris, Dentu, 1806. 4 text volumes (8vo) and 1 atlas (4to). With 140 numbered engraved plates: a double-page plan of the city of Pondichéry, India, 19 double- and 120 single-page views and plates. Contemporary red half sheepskin (text) and modern red half cloth (atlas).
Description: Text volumes: XXVIII, 372; [4], 445; [4], 412, [2]; [4], 488, [1] pp.Much enlarged edition of a classic of natural history and discoveries in the Far East, including China, Ceylon, Malacca, the Philippines, Burma and the Maldives by Pierre Sonnerat (1748-1814), a well-known French naturalist and explorer. Sonnerat made several voyages to southeast Asia, visiting the Philippines and Moluccas between 1769 and 1772, and India and China from 1774 to 1781. Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoucourt (1751-1812) contributed much to this edition. "… in his two major publications it is evident that his insight into other civilisations gave a strong impetus in Europe to the spread of a fashionable interest in the religion, arts, and customs of India and the Indian Archipelago" (DSB). A very good set, atlas volume untrimmed.l Lust 354; Pritzel 8774; for Sonnerat: DSB XII, pp. 535-537.

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