The History of a Voyage to the Malouine (or Falkland) Islands, made in 1763 and 1764, under the Command of M. de Bougainville, in order to form a Settlement there; and of Two Voyages to the Streights of Magellan, with An Account of the Patagonians

[xvii]+294+[3] pages with 7 engraved maps, charts and plans (4 folding) and 9 engraved plates (3 folding). Quarto (10 1/4" x 8") bound in original contemporary speckled calf boards with re-backed spine and six raised spine bands with red label in gilt lettering. (Cox II, p. 282; Hill 1327) First English edition.

The fall of Quebec and the collapse of French Canada had led to Louis de Bougainville's return to France. By the end of 1761 his thoughts about Pacific exploration and the need for French bases on sea routes had crystallized sufficiently to enable him to approach the Minister of Marine with a firm proposal. The French government was in no position to promote or finance a voyage into the Pacific, so the first step would be the colonization of the uninhabited Falkland Islands, by Acadian settlers who would be quite willing to go there as the climate was about the same as that of Acadia their former homeland. Two ships were obtained, and Bougainville's relatives provided the funds and in 1763 the expedition, France's first colonial adventure since the war, was under way. Antoine-Joseph Pernety, Bougainville's personal secretary, took part in the 1763-64 expedition that established the Port Saint Louis settlement in the Falkland Islands, and published a two-volume account of his nature exploration of the Falklands and the Brazilian island of Santa Catarina. In particular, he gave the first description of the Falklands stone runs phenomenon.

Condition:

Very minor offsetting, contemporary speckled calf rebacked. Provenance: Robert Ballard Whitebrook (1917-2012), American historian and author with his bookplate else a very good copy.