‎André Bellessort‎
‎La pérouse‎

‎Assemblée Nationale. Loi relative à la découverte des deux Frégates la Bousole et l'Astrolabe, commandées par M. De la Pérouse.‎

‎Evreux, Imprimerie du département, 1791. 1791 2 ff. in-folio (244 x 196 mm.) de 4 pp. Imprimées. Bandeau gravé en entéte, note signée à lencre noire en marge de la p. 4. (traces de plis et de trous en marges). Non relié, conservé tel que paru dans une chemise de papier d'époque.‎

‎Très rare arrêté de l'Assemblée Nationale ordonnant le financement et lorganisation dune expédition maritime à la recherche de La Pérouse. Parmi les navigateurs français du 18ème siècle qui ont exploré le globe, il n'en est pas dont le nom soit plus populaire que celui de La Pérouse ; peut-être faut-il attribuer une partie de cette célébrité peu commune à la funeste issue de son expédition. Sur instructions personnelles de Louis XVI, le directeur général des ports et arsenaux, Claret de Fleurieu, décida denvoyer une expédition pour compléter les travaux de Cook et de Clarke et rechercher un passage au nord-ouest de lAmérique. Louis XVI dressa lui-même le plan du voyage et confia cette mission à Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse (Albi, 1741- ?) : Le brillant officier de marine qui venait de sillustrer dans la baie d'Hudson pendant la guerre d'indépendance des Etats-Unis et dêtre promu au grade de capitaine, avait su gagner la confiance et lamitié du Roi, du duc de Castries (ministre de la Marine) et de Fleurieu. La Pérouse quitte Brest le 1er août 1785 à la tête des deux corvettes, la Boussole et lAstrolabe, en direction du Cap Horn. A son bord : une précieuse équipe de chirurgiens, ingénieurs, physiciens, géographes, botanistes, astronomes, dessinateurs qui a la tâche de mener à bien la plus vaste entreprise scientifique, politique, économique et commerciale du siècle. La Pérouse avait fait parvenir en France ses rapports au fur et à mesure qu'il le pouvait. Lultime envoi avait été confié au navire britannique le « Sirius » en 1788 lors de sa dernière escale, à Botany Bay (Australie). En février 1791, alors que La Pérouse n'étant toujours pas rentré, le présent édit ordonnant de le rechercher est publié. Dans le présent décret, publié le 25 février 1791, le gouvernement "a tous les Ambassadeurs, Residens, Consuls, Agens de la Nation, aupres des differentes Puissances" de faire rechercher les frégates disparues, "l'Assemblée Nationale prenant l'engagement d'indemniser & meme de recompenser [quiconque] pourra procurer de leurs nouvelles", et affrétant une mission spéciale en vue de cette recherche, [dont d'Entrecasteaux prendra la tete]. Une seconde loi, promulguée le 4 mai, décrètera que la relation du voyage de La Pérouse sera imprimée aux depens de la Nation "en témoignage de satisfaction du dévouement de M. la Peyrouse a la chose publique, & à l'accroissement des connoissances humaines et des découvertes utiles". Cet édit fut également publié à Paris, Valenciennes, Pau, Auxerre et Saint-Malo. Remarquable document, parfaitement conservé. 2 ff. in-folio (244 x 196 mm.) of 4 pp. printed. Engraved headband, note signed in black ink in margin of p. 4. (traces of folds and holes in margins). Unbound, preserved as issued in a contemporary paper folder. Very rare decree of the National Assembly ordering the financing and organization of a maritime expedition in search of La Pérouse. Among the French navigators of the 18th century who explored the globe, there is none whose name is more popular than that of La Pérouse; perhaps part of this uncommon fame is due to the disastrous outcome of his expedition. On the personal instructions of Louis XVI, the director general of ports and arsenals, Claret de Fleurieu, decided to send an expedition to complete the work of Cook and Clarke and to search for a passage to the northwest of America. Louis XVI himself drew up the plan for the voyage and entrusted this mission to Jean-François de Galaup, Count of La Pérouse (Albi, 1741- ?): The brilliant naval officer who had just distinguished himself in Hudson Bay during the American War of Independence and was promoted to the rank of captain, had won the confidence and friendship of the King, the Duke of Castries (Minister of the Navy) and Fleurieu. La Pérouse left Brest on August 1, 1785 at the head of two corvettes, the Boussole and the Astrolabe, bound for Cape Horn. On board: a precious team of surgeons, engineers, physicists, geographers, botanists, astronomers, draftsmen... who had the task of carrying out the largest scientific, political, economic and commercial enterprise of the century. La Pérouse had sent his reports to France as and when he could. The last shipment was entrusted to the British ship "Sirius" in 1788 during its last stopover in Botany Bay (Australia). In February 1791, when La Pérouse had still not returned, the present edict ordering to search for him was published. In this decree, published on February 25, 1791, the government "to all Ambassadors, Residents, Consuls, Agents of the Nation, to the different Powers" (translated from French) to search for the missing frigates, "the National Assembly taking the commitment to indemnify & even to reward [whoever] will be able to provide news of them", and chartering a special mission in view of this search, [of which d'Entrecasteaux will take the lead]. A second law, promulgated on May 4, decreed that the relation of the voyage of La Pérouse will be printed at the expense of the Nation "in testimony of satisfaction of the devotion of M. la Peyrouse to the public thing, & to the increase of human knowledge and useful discoveries". This edict was also published in Paris, Valenciennes, Pau, Auxerre and Saint-Malo. Remarkable document, perfectly preserved.‎

‎Voyage de La Pérouse autour du Monde, publié conformément au Décrets du 22 Avril 1791, et rédigé par M.L.A. Milet-Mureau. 4 Vols. + Atlas.‎

‎Paris, Plassin, 1798. 8vo. and folio (44 x 30) cm. Textvolumes bound in 4 contemporary half calf. Gilt spines with gilt lettering. Tome-label on volume one eroded. Stamp on title-pages. (4),LXVIII,368(4),414316,(120 = Tables)"(4),328 pp. A few scattered brownspots. Atlasvolume bound in matching hcalf. Spine gilt and rubbed. Lower compartment of spine with wear and tear. Engraved portrai of Pérouse as frontispiece. Engraved pictorial titlepage with cupids and naviogational instruments (dessinée par Moreau le Jeune) and 69 engraved maps, plans and plates of which 32 are large folded engraved maps. Mild foxing to some parts of some maps, occasionally mild dampstains to some plates, marginal browning and some spotting. One map with a repair to folding.‎

‎Second edition of the textvolumes (the first appeared the year before, 1797) and first edition of plates. (69 plates to the first, 70 to the second).""In 1785, Jean-Francois de Galaup, Comte de la Perouse, began preparations for an extensive sea voyage. His aim was to explore the Pacific regions of North and South America, Asia and Australasia. The sponsor of the expedition was the French king, Louis XVI, who was inspired by Captain James Cook's Pacific voyages. Louis ordered the French expedition to show the world that France could also dominate in ocean exploration. The expedition consisted of two ships - La Boussole and L'Astrolabe. They carried a total of 225 crew, officers and scientists. The ships left France in August 1785 and sailed south around Cape Horn. The voyage was expected to last four years. During the voyage, La Perouse sent back regular reports to France. The expedition mapped coastlines and explored uncharted areas of ocean. The expedition's scientists also spent time onshore at various ports, observing the habits and customs of local people and collecting natural history specimens. The expedition's progess until September 1787 was published by the French government as Voyage de La Perouse autour du monde [La Perouse's voyage around the world]. It was reprinted many times and translated into several languages. In 1791, when La Perouse had not returned to France or made any contact by dispatch, the French government sent out a search party. It was commanded by Rear Admiral Joseph Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux and consisted of two ships, Recherche and Esperance.... The complete disappearance of La Perouse caught the imagination of the European public. Songs, stories and plays were written about the possible fate of the expedition, including a popular play called, Perouse, or, The desolate island..... It was not until 1964 that the wreck of La Boussole was finally discovered on Vanikoro's reefs. At last the fate of La Perouse and his crew was known. The expedition is commemorated in the name of a Sydney suburb on the shores of Botany Bay - La Perouse."" (State Library of New South Wales, Website).Sabin, 38960.‎

‎Voyage de La Pérouse autour du monde, publié conformément au décret du 22 avril 1791 et rédigé par M. L. A . Milet-Mureau.‎

‎Paris, De l’Imprimerie de la République, an V (1797). 4 volumes de texte in-4 (320x240mm) et un grand Atals in-folio (600x425mm), reliures d’époque uniformes, demi-maroquin vert, dos ornés de filets dorés, tranches jaunes. TEXTE : 12ff.-frontispice portrait de LA Pérouse, LXXIIpp.-346pp.(1) ; 2ff.-398pp. ; 1f.-III-422pp. ; IV-309pp. ATLAS in folio contenant 69 planches en premier tirage, mouillure sur la moitié des planches (voir photos). Édition originale de l’un des plus beaux livres de voyages de la fin du XVIIIe siècle. En août 1785, sur ordre du roi Louis XVI, Jean-François de Laperouse (1741-1788) et ses compagnons embarquent à bord des vaisseaux La Boussole et L’Astrolabe pour conduire une grande expédition autour du monde. Leur mission était de compléter les nombreux relevés topographiques entrepris quelques années auparavant par James COOK, en particulier ceux du littoral pacifique du continent nord-américain. L’expédition se dirigea dans un premier temps vers le Brésil et le cap Horn, puis s’aventura dans l’océan Pacifique qu’lle explora de long en large. Mais en 1788, les navires firent naufrage sur les récifs de Vanikoro, au sud de l’archipel des îles Santa Cruz, et l’équipage disparut dans des circonstances mystérieuses. Le 22 avril 1791, un décret de l’Assemblée nationale ordonna la publication des relations, cartes et dessins que Lapérouse avait pris soin d’envoyer au cours de son périple : on sait en effet, que la majeure partie de ses documents avait été confiée à l’interprète Barthelemy de Lesseps en septembre 1787, lors d’une escale au Kamtchatka et celui-ci les rapporta à Paris un an plus tard, au terme d’une incroyable épopée terrestre à travers la Sibérie et l’Europe. L’illustration, gravée en taille-douce, contient un portrait de Lapérouse par Alexandre Tardieu et 69 belles cartes et planches doubles représentant des autochtones d’Amérique du Nord, des plantes, des oiseaux, des vues diverses, des embarcations, etc. La plupart de ces planches ont été gravées d’après des dessins réalisés au cours du voyage par Prévost oncle et fils et Duche de Vancy. Reliures uniformes, bel ensemble. JEAN-FRANCOIS GALAUP, COMTE DE LA PEROUSE (1741-1788). Voyage de La Pérouse Autour du Monde, Publie conformément au décret du 22 Avril 1791, et Rédigé par M. L.A. Milet-Mureau. Paris: Imprimerie de la République, An V, 4 text volumes, 4. (310 x 235mm) and 2. Atlas (608 x 450mm). engraved portrait of La Perouse after Tardieu, all half-titles, colophon leaf in vol. I-III, vol. IV colophon following index. Atlas with engraved allegorical title-page by Moreau le Jeune, titled 'Atlas du voyage de La Perouse' without imprint, and 69 engraved plates: folding world map, 35 views and natural history plates, 20 double-page maps and 13 single-page maps or coastal profiles. A portrait of La Perouse, a couple of the double-maps plates with light creasing, clear water stains on half pages of the Atlas, occasional light scattered spotting, soiling and damp staining. THE MOST IMPORTANT SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATIONS EVER UNDERTAKEN TO THE PACIFIC AND THE N.W. AMERICAN COAST, AND THE FIRST SCIENTIFIC VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA. La Perouse, commanding the Astrolabe and Bussole sailed around Cape Horn for Easter Island and Hawaii before heading for the Aleutians and Alaska. Near Yakutat they optimistically named Lituya Bay 'Port des Francais' (some excellent views of which are included in the atlas), and continued south to California before crossing the Pacific to China, Japan and Kamchatka. From Macao, portions of his logs, journals and drawings were sent back to France, and from Kamchatka, Ferdinand de Lessups carried other reports across Siberia to Europe; thus the only records of the expedition were saved. La Perouse's last entries were sent from Botany Bay, dated February 1788, and after departing from Australia in March, neither men nor ships were ever heard from again. UNIFORM SET IN THE ORIGINAL BINDINGS in half contemporary green morocco, water stains on half of the Atlas. ‎

‎Voyage... envoye a la Recherce de la Perouse. 2 tomes + atlas. - [GIFT-COPY, BY ORDER OF NAPOLEON]‎

‎Paris, 1807 (atlas) - 1808 (text). 2 large 4to + 1 folio. All three volumes bound in contemporary half calf with gilding to spines - text volumes uniform. TEXT: Volume 1 with a split front hinge, but block still tight. A patch of paper missing from back board. Both volumes with some edge wear and bumped corners. Old paper labels to inside of front boards, and a stamp to half-titles and title-pages. A bit of brownspotting, but mostly marginal. Overall, most text-leaves are clean and bright. The plates in vol. 1 have some, mostly marginal, brownspotting. Both volumes with wide margins. Some of the text is printed on blue-ish paper. (4), LVI, 704 pp. & 32 folded engraved plates + (4), VIII, 691 pp. & 1 folded plate. Many tables with astronomical observations. In all 33 folded plates. ATLAS: Wear to extremities and bumped corners. Inner front hinge re-enforced. Top right blank corner of title-page repaired, far from affecting text. A stamp to title-page. A bit of brownspotting, mostly marginal. The last ab. 10 maps with a damp stain in the middle. The reast are very nice and bright. 4 (title-page + contents-leaf) pp. & 39 maps and charts, 29 of which are double-page. Fully complete with all 33 folded plates in the text-volumes and all 39 maps and charts in the atlas-volume. A contemporary handwritten note to the title-page of the atlas stating that THE COPY WAS GIVEN TO ADMIRAL VAN DOCKUM AT THE ORDER OF NAPOLEON I. (""à Mr. le Conte-Admiral Joost Van Dockum,/ par ordre de Sm l'Empereur Napoléon 1e."")‎

‎A gift-copy, ordered by Napoleon I - for the Danish admiral that had earned himself great personal admiration from Napoleon - of the first edition of this magnificent travel account, which is famous for its exploration of the Australian coast while searching for the lost Pérouse expedition that had vanished in Oceania.The excellent maps and charts of this foundational publication are made by the expedition's first hydrographical engineer, C.F Beautemps-Beaupré, who is now regarded as the father of modern French hydrography, due to his work on the present expedition. The charts published here, in the atlas volume under the title ""Atlas du Voyage de Bruny-Dentrecasteaux"", in 1807 were very detailed and remained the source of the English charts of the area for many years. Those of Van Diemen's Land were the exceptionally detailed and have contributed greatly to our knowledge of the area. In September 1791, the French Assembly decided to send an expedition in search of Jean-François de La Pérouse, who had not been heard of since leaving Botany Bay in March 1788. Bruni d'Entrecasteaux was selected to command this expedition and was given a frigate, Recherche with Lieutenant Jean-Louis d'Hesmity-d'Auribeau as his second-in-command, Rossel among the other officers, and Beautemps-Beaupré as hydrographer of the expedition.On September 28, the expedition left Brest. The plan of the voyage was to proceed to New Holland in Australia, to sight Cape Leeuwin, then to hug the shore closely all the way to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), inspecting every possible harbour in a rowing boat, and then to sail for the Friendly Islands (Tonga) via the northern cape of New Zealand (allowing gardener Félix Delahaye to collect live breadfruit plants for transport to the French West Indies). After that, D'Entrecasteaux was to follow Pérouse's intended route in the Pacific. However, when Bruni d'Entrecasteaux reached Table Bay, Cape Town on 17 January 1792, he heard a report that Captain John Hunter (later to be Governor of New South Wales) had recently seen - off the Admiralty Islands - canoes manned by natives wearing French uniforms and belts. Although Hunter denied this report, and although the Frenchmen heard of the denial, Bruni d'Entrecasteaux determined to make directly to the Admiralty Islands, nowadays part of Papua New Guinea, taking water and refreshing his crew at Van Diemen's Land. On 20 April 1792, that land was in sight, and three days later the ships anchored in a harbour, which he named Recherche Bay. For the next five weeks, until 28 May 1792, the Frenchmen carried out careful boat explorations which revealed in detail the beautiful waterways and estuaries in the area.Beautemps-Beaupré, while surveying the coasts with Lieutenant Crétin, discovered that Adventure Bay was on an island, separated from the mainland by a fine navigable channel. On May 16, d'Entrecasteaux commenced to sail the ships through the channel and succeeded in 12 days. Port Esperance, the Huon River, and other features were discovered, named, and charted, the admiral's names being given to the channel (D'Entrecasteaux Channel) and the large island (Bruny Island) separated by it from the mainland.On May 28, 1792 the ships sailed into the Pacific to search for La Pérouse. On June 17, they arrived off the Isle of Pines, south of New Caledonia. From there, d'Entrecasteaux sailed northward along the western coast of New Caledonia. (The Bruni d'Entrecasteaux reefs at the northwestern end of the New Caledonia Barrier Reef are named for him.) He then passed the Solomon Islands along their southern or western coasts, sailed through Saint George's Channel between New Ireland and New Britain, and on July 28 sighted the south-east coast of the Admiralty Islands. After that he set sail for Ambon (in modern-day Indonesia), where his ships replenished their stores.Leaving Amboina on October 14, Bruni d'Entrecasteaux made for Cape Leeuwin, the south-western extremity of Australia, to carry out his original instructions of searching southern New Holland for La Pérouse. On December 6, land was sighted near Cape Leeuwin, and named ""D'Entrecasteaux Point"". They ended up sailing further east and penetrated numerous islands and dangerous shoals, to which they gave the name ""D'Entrecasteaux Islands"" (later changed to the Recherche Archipelago).After a violent storm in December, the ships continued eastward to the head of the Great Australian Bight, and on January 4, 1793, Bruni d'Entrecasteaux was forced to leave the coast at a position near Bruni d'Entrecasteaux Reef and sail direct to Van Diemen's Land (this decision was unfortunate, for if he had continued his examination of the southern coast of New Holland, he would have made all the geographical discoveries that fell to the lot of Bass and Flinders a few years later. If that had been the case, a French ""Terre Napoléon"" might well have been a fact).The ships anchored in Recherche Bay on 22 January, and the expedition spent five weeks in that area, watering the ships, refreshing the crews, and carrying out explorations into both natural history and geography. Beautemps-Beaupré, in company with other officers, surveyed the northern extensions to Storm Bay - the western extension was found to be a mouth of a river which received the name Rivière du Nord (it was renamed the Derwent River a few months later by the next visitor to this area).On February 28, d'Entrecasteaux sailed from Van Diemen's Land towards the Friendly Islands, sighting New Zealand and the Kermadec Islands en route. At the Friendly Islands, he found that the natives remembered Cook and Bligh well enough, but knew nothing of La Pérouse. He then sailed back to New Caledonia, where he anchored at Balade. The vain search for La Pérouse then resumed with Santa Cruz, then along the southern coasts of the Solomon Islands, the northern parts of the Louisiade Archipelago, through the Dampier Strait, along the northern coast of New Britain and the southern coast of the Admiralty Islands, and thence north of New Guinea to the Moluccas.By this time, the affairs of the expedition had become almost desperate, largely because the officers were ardent royalists and the crews equally ardent revolutionaries. Kermadec had died of phthisis in Balade harbour, and on 21 July 1793, d'Entrecasteaux himself died of scurvy, off the Hermits.Commands were re-arranged, with Auribeau taking charge of the expedition, with Rossel in Kermadec's place. The new chief took the ships to Surabaya. Here it was learned that a republic had been proclaimed in France, and on February 18, 1794, Auribeau handed his vessels to the Dutch authorities so that the new French Government could not profit by them. Auribeau died a month later, and Rossel sailed from Java in January 1795 on board a Dutch ship, arriving at Table Bay in April 1795. There his ship sailed unexpectedly with the expedition's papers, leaving him behind, but this vessel was captured by the British. Rossel then took passage on a brig-of-war, but this too was captured by the British. After the Peace of Amiens in 1802, all the papers of the expedition were returned to Rossel, who was thus able to publish the present narrative of the whole enterprise. JOST VAN DOCKUM (1753 -1834) was a famous Danish naval officer. He started out as a naval cadet and midshipman in 1765, advanced to second lieutenant 1773, premier lieutenant in 1781, captain lieutenant in 1784 and captain in 1796. In 1798 Dockum became chief of a frigate used as a watch ship in Helsinore and here got caught up in a conflict with an English chief of a convoy, about the extradition of another Danish ship. Due to his steadfast and tactful handling of the situation, the case was resolved and battle was avoided, earning him great respect and a flattering letter from Crown Prince Frederik. In 1799, Dockum was sent out as chief commander of the frigate ""The Mermaid"" to join the Commander Captain Steen Bille's force in the Mediterranean, whose task it was to ensure the uninterrupted travel of Danish merchant ships. Even though Denmark was neutral and thus sought after for shipping goods, these Danish ships still faced problems from both privateers, who didn't necessarily respect the neutral flag, and from English war ships, which demanded the right to search Danish ships - something that the Danish chiefs had explicit orders to prevent. Van Dockum turned out to be exactly the right man at the right place, at the right time. In December 1799, in Gibraltar, he was forced to order firing against English vessels that attempted to search his convoy. For a short while, it even looked as if a heavy battle was forced to follow, but with his calm and assured conduct, Van Dockum made the English reconsider, and the case was handled with diplomacy in stead. Later the same year, a similar situation occurred, which Van Docum handled in the same admirable manner. His impressive conduct was clearly noticed high up in the hierarchy. Denmark, however, could not remain neutral, and in the beginning of 1801, the Danish forces were called back from the Mediterranean. When the English navy arrived in Øresund in 1807 and afterwards bombarded Copenhagen, Van Docken was given command of the battery of ships, Preøvesten. In 1809, he was sent to Schelden to serve in the French navy" upon his arrival, he took command over the line ship Pultusk, under Vice Admiral Édouard Jacques Burgues de Missiessy.Napoleon's plan was to form a naval port of the first rank, a goal that he pursued zealously. The English, of course, tried to conquer the station. It was here that Van Docken gained international fame. At the failed attacks by the English and with his obviously skilled maneuvers and his amazing abilities as an organizer, he gained the special attention of Emperor Napoleon I and earned special recognition for the Danish marine as such. He stayed at his post for more than three years, was appointed French Admiral, Knight of Dannebrog and an officer of the Legion of Honour. He was invited to Napoleon's feasts was showered with attention, when he visited Napoleon in Paris. He stayed in French service until 1812, and Napoleon has presumably given him the present work, when it appeared. ‎

‎Voyage de Dentrecasteaux, envoyé à la recherche de La Pérouse. Publié par ordre de sa Majesté l’Empereur et Roi, sous le ministère de S. E. le vice-amiral Decrès, comte de l’Empire. Rédigé par M. de (Édouard de) Rossel, ancien capitaine de vaisseau.‎

‎A Paris, Dépôt général des Cartes et Plans de la Marine et des Colonies, 1807 et De L’Imprimerie Impériale, 1808 RARE ENSEMBLE COMPLET en 3 volumes TEXTE ; 2 forts vol. in-4° ; (2)-LVI-704 pp.-32 pl. h.-t. repliées in-fine (I-XXXII)/(2)-VIII-692 pp.-1 pl. h.-t. Repliée sur papier bleuté , relié demi cuir , dos lisse avec titre et tomaison , tranches mouchetées , mouillure angulaire sur 7 planches, petites rousseurs sur les planches . ATLAS ; 1 volume grand in-folio (560x445) ,page de titre-1 fnch. (Table )-39 cartes et vues h.-t. , dont 29 à double page ,dressées par l'ingénieur hydrographe C. F. Beautemps Beaupré et gravées sur cuivre par E. Collin , relié demi cuir , dos lisse ,cachets répétés , petites rousseurs .‎

‎Édition originale de la relation du voyage de Bruny d'Entrecasteaux, envoyé par Louis XVI en Océanie à la recherche de La Pérouse. Sa rédaction a été confiée au capitaine de vaisseau Rossel, qui s'est appuyé sur le journal laissé par d'Entrecasteaux, emporté par le scorbut au cours du trajet. Elle est illustrée de 33 planches dépliantes dans les volumes de texte et de 39 cartes et vues dans l’atlas , réalisées pendant l'expédition et qui étaient d'un niveau exceptionnellement élevé, en particuliers les 12 magnifiques cartes de l'Australie occidentale et de la Tasmanie qui enregistraient la côte avec précision pour la première fois , la nouvelle méthode de Beautemps-Beaupré , révolutionna la cartographie . En février 1791, inquiet du sort de l'expédition commandée par La Pérouse, qui aurait dû être rentrée en France depuis plusieurs mois, Louis XVI fit envoyer deux frégates à sa recherche, symboliquement rebaptisées La Recherche et L'Espérance. Cette ambitieuse expédition quitta Brest en septembre, doubla le cap de Bonne-Espérance, visita plusieurs îles du Pacifique sud (la Tasmanie, la Nouvelle-Zélande, la Nouvelle-Calédonie, les îles Tonga, le Vanuatu, etc.) et se termina de façon chaotique à Sourabaya, un des principaux établissements hollandais situés sur l'île de Java. L'équipage y arriva diminué par la fatigue et la maladie , alors que la France avait changé de régime et était en guerre avec l’Angleterre, sans avoir trouvé la moindre trace de La Pérouse. Hormis son issue malheureuse, l'expédition fit des découvertes importantes dans le domaine de la géographie, de l'hydrographie et des sciences naturelles, et rapporta une liste de vocabulaires des peuples qu'elle rencontra (voir les pages 557-590 du premier volume). UN RÉCIT TRÈS RARE D'UN VOYAGE D'UNE IMPORTANCE ÉNORME POUR L'EXPLORATION DE L'AUSTRALIE ET DU PACIFIQUE Antoine Reymond Joseph de Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, dit le « chevalier d'Entrecasteaux » , entre dans la marine à l’age de 15 ans , combattit à Minorque , accompagna Chabert dans ses expéditions scientifique , prend le commandement de la flotte française dans l’océan indien , ouvre une nouvelle route de navigation vers la Chine , il devient gouverneur des Mascareignes jusqu’à sa nomination à la direction de l’expédition à la recherche de La Pérouse en 1791. Charles-François Beautemps-Beaupré, (Neuville-au-Pont 1766, Paris 1854), est un ingénieur hydrographe et cartographe français, membre de l'Académie des sciences et du Bureau des longitudes . Il est considéré comme le père de l'hydrographie moderne . Chadenat, n°5056. , Sabin, n°22671 FIRST EDITION. D'Entrecasteaux joined the French navy in 1754 and fought in 1756 at Minorca. He assumed command of the French fleet of the East Indies and in 1787, was appointed governor of Mauritius and the Isle of Bourbon. While in command in search for La Perouse in 1791-92, he determined the position of Amsterdam Island, explored the coastlines of New Caledonia, Tasmania, and New Holland, and located several groups of islands. Many of the charts made by the expedition (particularly those of South Australia produced by Beautemp Beaupre) were of unusually high standards, and the 12 magnificent maps of Western Australia and Tasmania recorded the coast accurately for the first time. They are regarded the most significant ever made. A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF A VOYAGE WITH TREMENDOUS IMPORTANCE TO THE EXPLORATION OF AUSTRALIA AND THE PACIFIC‎