Pernety, Dom Antoine-Joseph
First edition of Pernety’s account of the French expedition to the Falkland Islands (Îles Malouines) undertaken in 1763–1764 under the command of Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, with the purpose of establishing a permanent French settlement. Pernety, a Benedictine monk and naturalist who accompanied the expedition, provides one of the earliest detailed descriptions of the islands, their geography, natural history and the circumstances of their colonisation. The French settlement, established at Port Louis in 1764, marked the beginning of a period of competing European claims to the archipelago. France transferred its settlement to Spain in 1767, while Britain, which had established a separate settlement at Port Egmont in 1765, maintained its own claim, leading to the diplomatic crisis of 1770.
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Two volumes, 8vo (184 x 115 mm). 8 ff., [3]–403; 2 ff., [405]–704 pp., 24 ff. With 11 folding plates and 6 folding maps. Contemporary three-quarter calf over marbled boards, raised bands to spines, simply gilt-tooled, brown lettering pieces. Minor shelfwear to boards, spines restored. Very clean, with only occasional foxing; folding plates in excellent condition.
The work also contains an important account of southern Brazil, where the expedition called at Santa Catarina. Three chapters are devoted respectively to the island’s geography and condition, its natural history, and the customs of its inhabitants. As noted by Borba de Moraes, these descriptions constitute a substantial part of Pernety’s narrative and provide contemporary observations on Portuguese colonial Brazil.
Pernety further describes two voyages to the Strait of Magellan and encounters with the indigenous inhabitants of Patagonia, including the Patagonians whose reputed extraordinary stature had attracted European curiosity since the voyages of Magellan. The narrative is illustrated with 17 folding maps and plates, including geographical charts, natural history subjects and the well-known depiction of an encounter with the Patagonians. The illustrations complement an account combining maritime exploration, colonial history and ethnographical observation in the South Atlantic during the eighteenth century.
Provenance: bookplate of Franz Pollack Parnau on fron pastedown.
Sabin 60997; Borba de Moraes, p. 662 (describing a later edition).
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