Null [VOYAGE] - KERGUELEN DE TRÉMAREC (Yves Joseph Marie de) - Relation de deux …
Description

[VOYAGE] - KERGUELEN DE TRÉMAREC (Yves Joseph Marie de) - Relation de deux voyages dans les mers autrasles et les Indes, faits en 1771, 1772, 1773 & 1774 [...Or Extrait du Journal de sa navigation pour la découverte des terres Australe, & pour la vérification d'une nouvelle route proposée pour abréger d'environ huit cents lieus la traversée d'Europe à la Chine - Paris ; Knapen & Fils, 1782 - 1 volume In-8° (21,60x13,80 cm) stapled in a contemporary grey paperback cover (1st plate almost detached, partial lack of paper on the back) - VIII, 244 pages, 1 map, [3] pages (Approval and Privilege of the King) - The map, folding out of the text, is framed with 9 small maps and views of the coasts of the "Terres Australes ou partie septentrionale de l'Isle de Kerguelen of great rarity, of the 2 expeditions of the Breton navigator Kerguelen in search of the legendary southern continent - The work contains the relation of the discovery of the Kerguelen Islands, 1 memoir on Madagascar (pages 154 to 169) and "Observations on the war of the Americas" (pages 121 to 133). Because of the dedication "To the Fatherland", the book was forbidden by a decree of May 28, 1783 and most of the copies were destroyed. Thanks to his connections at court, Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen (1734-1797) obtained the command of an expedition to the southern seas. He embarked from Lorient on the Berryer on May 1, 1771, in search of the hypothetical and mythical "Land of Gonneville" that Captain de Gonneville had discovered in 1503. Louis XV entrusted him with the mission of "attempting one of the most important discoveries that remain to be made". The King's memorandum specifies "that the Sieur de Kerguelen is informed that there is every appearance that there is a very large continent south of the islands of Saint-Paul and Amsterdam and that it must occupy a part of the globe from 40 and 45° south latitude to the vicinity of the South Pole, in an immense space where one has not yet penetrated" (pages 4-5). Kerguelen arrived at the end of August in the Island of France (Mauritius) where he was welcomed by the intendant Pierre Poivre. He then armed two lighter ships, the Fortune and the Gros-Ventre, commanded by his neighbor and friend Louis de Saint-Aloüarn. As the season was not favourable for navigation in the south, he took the new maritime route to the east, discovered by the Chevalier de Grenier, allowing him to reach India via the Seychelles and the Maldives. On January 16, 1772, after three months at sea, he returned to Port-Louis and set sail for the southern lands. "On the 13th [February], at four o'clock in the morning, we saw an island; but it was not the one we had seen the day before; the currents had carried us during the night. I continued my course to the East-quarter-North-East and, at ten o'clock in the morning, I was aware of a large and very high cape. A moment later, I saw other lands also high. At seven o'clock, the sun having dissipated the fog and cleared the horizon, I perfectly distinguished a continuation of land, which extended in full view from the North-East to the South of the compass, which included about 25 leagues of coast" (page 22). In spite of the very difficult weather conditions, the Gros Ventre managed to land. It is the 2nd of Saint-Aloüarn, the ship's ensign de Boisguehenneuc, who puts down and takes possession, in the name of France, of what will become the Kerguelen Islands. But Kerguelen, aboard the Fortune, could not get close to the shore and decided to return to the Île de France to make his discovery known. Upon his return to France, Louis XV promoted him to captain. In March 1773, after having received financial assistance and numerous advices from the Duke of Croÿ, he left for a second expedition to the southern lands. He noted about 80 places of length of coasts, without managing to determine if it was an isolated archipelago or a few islands extending a continent going to the pole. Bad weather forced him to go back north by stopping in Madagascar. He returned to Brest in September 1774. But he was then court-martialed for not following instructions, illegal trade and junk trade, as well as for having taken on board a stowaway, Louise Seguin. He was discharged from the Navy, sentenced to 6 years in prison in the castle of Saumur, but was released 4 years later and returned to service, participating in the American War of Independence. Allied to the Revolution, he was made rear-admiral before being admitted to retirement in 1796 - A very good copy inside, to which are attached bibliographical references in leaves as well as 1 copy of the Arrêt du Conseil d'Etat du roi dated May 23, 1783 suppressing the work.

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[VOYAGE] - KERGUELEN DE TRÉMAREC (Yves Joseph Marie de) - Relation de deux voyages dans les mers autrasles et les Indes, faits en 1771, 1772, 1773 & 1774 [...Or Extrait du Journal de sa navigation pour la découverte des terres Australe, & pour la vérification d'une nouvelle route proposée pour abréger d'environ huit cents lieus la traversée d'Europe à la Chine - Paris ; Knapen & Fils, 1782 - 1 volume In-8° (21,60x13,80 cm) stapled in a contemporary grey paperback cover (1st plate almost detached, partial lack of paper on the back) - VIII, 244 pages, 1 map, [3] pages (Approval and Privilege of the King) - The map, folding out of the text, is framed with 9 small maps and views of the coasts of the "Terres Australes ou partie septentrionale de l'Isle de Kerguelen of great rarity, of the 2 expeditions of the Breton navigator Kerguelen in search of the legendary southern continent - The work contains the relation of the discovery of the Kerguelen Islands, 1 memoir on Madagascar (pages 154 to 169) and "Observations on the war of the Americas" (pages 121 to 133). Because of the dedication "To the Fatherland", the book was forbidden by a decree of May 28, 1783 and most of the copies were destroyed. Thanks to his connections at court, Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen (1734-1797) obtained the command of an expedition to the southern seas. He embarked from Lorient on the Berryer on May 1, 1771, in search of the hypothetical and mythical "Land of Gonneville" that Captain de Gonneville had discovered in 1503. Louis XV entrusted him with the mission of "attempting one of the most important discoveries that remain to be made". The King's memorandum specifies "that the Sieur de Kerguelen is informed that there is every appearance that there is a very large continent south of the islands of Saint-Paul and Amsterdam and that it must occupy a part of the globe from 40 and 45° south latitude to the vicinity of the South Pole, in an immense space where one has not yet penetrated" (pages 4-5). Kerguelen arrived at the end of August in the Island of France (Mauritius) where he was welcomed by the intendant Pierre Poivre. He then armed two lighter ships, the Fortune and the Gros-Ventre, commanded by his neighbor and friend Louis de Saint-Aloüarn. As the season was not favourable for navigation in the south, he took the new maritime route to the east, discovered by the Chevalier de Grenier, allowing him to reach India via the Seychelles and the Maldives. On January 16, 1772, after three months at sea, he returned to Port-Louis and set sail for the southern lands. "On the 13th [February], at four o'clock in the morning, we saw an island; but it was not the one we had seen the day before; the currents had carried us during the night. I continued my course to the East-quarter-North-East and, at ten o'clock in the morning, I was aware of a large and very high cape. A moment later, I saw other lands also high. At seven o'clock, the sun having dissipated the fog and cleared the horizon, I perfectly distinguished a continuation of land, which extended in full view from the North-East to the South of the compass, which included about 25 leagues of coast" (page 22). In spite of the very difficult weather conditions, the Gros Ventre managed to land. It is the 2nd of Saint-Aloüarn, the ship's ensign de Boisguehenneuc, who puts down and takes possession, in the name of France, of what will become the Kerguelen Islands. But Kerguelen, aboard the Fortune, could not get close to the shore and decided to return to the Île de France to make his discovery known. Upon his return to France, Louis XV promoted him to captain. In March 1773, after having received financial assistance and numerous advices from the Duke of Croÿ, he left for a second expedition to the southern lands. He noted about 80 places of length of coasts, without managing to determine if it was an isolated archipelago or a few islands extending a continent going to the pole. Bad weather forced him to go back north by stopping in Madagascar. He returned to Brest in September 1774. But he was then court-martialed for not following instructions, illegal trade and junk trade, as well as for having taken on board a stowaway, Louise Seguin. He was discharged from the Navy, sentenced to 6 years in prison in the castle of Saumur, but was released 4 years later and returned to service, participating in the American War of Independence. Allied to the Revolution, he was made rear-admiral before being admitted to retirement in 1796 - A very good copy inside, to which are attached bibliographical references in leaves as well as 1 copy of the Arrêt du Conseil d'Etat du roi dated May 23, 1783 suppressing the work.

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