This four-volume collection was issued by the Paris publisher Furne in the mid-nineteenth century to showcase the adventures and discoveries of recent French explorers. In Volumes 1 and 2 the naval officer Jules Dumont d'Urville (1790-1842) presents a lightly fictionalised account based on his first two voyages to the Pacific on board the Coquille (renamed L'Astrolabe for the second voyage). This was intended for a wider audience and offered at a more affordable price than the large-format scientific expedition reports produced for the French government. The work, illustrated with engravings, was originally published in 1832, but the printings by Furne reissued here date from 1863 and 1859 respectively. Volume 1 describes the voyage through the Atlantic to the Cape of Good Hope, and focuses on South and South-East Asia, China and Hawaii, covering natural history, indigenous culture, and colonial commerce. It ends with the ship's arrival in French Polynesia.
- ISBN13 9781139107549
- Publish Date 5 November 2015
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Cambridge University Press
- Imprint Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)
- Format eBook
- Language French