Paris, chez Charles-Antoine Jombert, Quay des Augustins, 1749, in-4°, 25,5 cm, (24)nn pp + cx pp + 394 pp + 9 folding plates. Bound in contemporary mottled calf, raised gilt spine, edges painted red, marbled endpapers, binding with only minimal traces of use, the map of Quito has a tear repaired. Still a fine/good copy. First edition, text in French. Pierre Bouguer (1698-1758), French astronomer and mathematician, was appointed co-leader under Charles-Marie de la Condamine of the Ecuador expedition and published here his own report after they quarelled already at the beginning of the expedition. The main aim of the expedition was to mesure an arc of the meridian near the equator. This measurement resulted in the determination of the shape of the earth as an oblate spheroid.
Reference : 36000
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