DELESSERT, Adolphe.
Souvenirs d´un voyage dans l´Inde exécuté de 1834 à 1839.
Paris, Bétrune et Plon for Fortin, Masson et Cie & Langlois et Leclerq, 1843. 2 parts in 1 volume. 4to. With 8 lithographed plates of landscapes and cities in India by V. Dollet, 27 engraved plates of mammals, birds, and insects, in the second part after the designs by J.G. Prêtre, Delahaye, and Vaillant, including 24 beautifully coloured by hand by the famous "coloriste" Gérard, and 1 large folding map of Europe, Africa, and Asia, indicating in red the route of Delessert's journey. Contemporary gold-tooled half red morocco. [6], III, 134; [4], 107, [1 blank] pp.
€ 9,800
First and only edition of the memories of Adolphe François Delessert (1809-1869) of his voyage to India. The first part is devoted to the voyage, and the second part, which is the most important, to the natural history of India, containing 27 marvellous plates of birds and insects. Delessert was the nephew of the rich industrial Jules Paul Benjamin Delessert (1773-1847) to whom he dedicated this book. The Delessert family consisted of many travellers and writers on natural history. This voyage was made on an educational basis, and was, thanks to the wealth of Benjamin Delessert, not deprived of some luxury.
Delessert embarked on the 24th of April 1834 at Nantes, and after stopovers at Madeira and the Canaries, he arrived at Ile de France, where he learned many things about the Indian flora, fauna and customs. He sailed on to the Dutch East Indies, Calcutta, Bengali, Bombay, Goa, and studied during a long time the flora and the extremely variable climate of the Mount Nilgiri. On the 30th of April 1839 he returned to France, bringing with him large collections of mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes, insects, shells, plants, and minerals.
With the bookplate of P. Million mounted on the front paste-down. Plates 4 and 5 in part 2 are loose. Otherwise in very good condition. Chadenat, 556, 2602, 3723; Nissen, ZBI, 1067; Numa Broc, Asie, pp. 131-2; Quatre siècles de Colonisation Francaise, 238.
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