Mémoires Du Capitaine Péron, Sur Ses Voyages Aux Côtes D’Afrique, En Arabie, À L‘ÃŽle D’Amsterdam, Aux ÃŽles D’Anjouan Et De Mayotte, Aux Côtes Nord-Ouest De L’Amérique, Aux &Icirc by PÉRON, [Pierre François] [b. 1769] - 1824

Paris: Brissot-Thivars…Bossange Frères, 1824., 1824. 2 Volumes. 8vo. pp. 2 p.l., v, 328; 1 p.l., 359. with half-title in Vol. I only. 2 folding plates & 4 folding maps, all lithographed by G.Engelmann. 19th century quarter roan (bit worn, plate captions shaved, short tear in title – no loss, 1 map with fold tear & 2 smaller tears repaired – no loss, light foxing to another map). First Edition of these thrilling sea-faring adventures, edited from the author’s voluminous notes and diaries by Louis Saturnin Brissot-Thivars. Included are accounts of shipwrecks and storms, the abandonment and rescue of Péron and four companions on the deserted Amsterdam Island in the Indian Ocean, and Péron’s five-month fur-trading voyage to the northwest coast of America as chief officer on the ‘Otter’, Captain Ebenezer Door commanding. In May of 1796, the ‘Otter’ reached the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the following month, entered the Bay of Nootka, where the crew had lengthy dealings with the famous chief Macuina, whose treachery and cruelty are described by Péron with great detail. Proceeding farther north, they pushed as far as the Bucareli Bay region, Alaska, which they explored and charted, before turning back, meeting and trading with the coastal natives along the way. Important descriptions are given of parts of British Columbia, Vancouver Island, and the Queen Charlotte Islands, as well as California, where Péron spent a week at Monterey on the return voyage; Streeter notes that the ‘Otter’ was possibly the first American ship to visit Monterey of which a record has been handed down, while Howgego states that it was the first American ship to enter San Francisco Bay. Visits to Tasmania, New South Wales, Hawaii, and Sumatra are also related. The lithographed plates include one of seals and penguins, another of seal-hunting, and plans of Amsterdam Island, the northwest coast of America from the Strait of Juan de Fuca to just south of Nootka, the Strait dividing the Queen Charlotte and Prince of Wales Islands, and Bucareli Bay. Ferguson 980. Graff 3250. Hill p. 230. Howes P-240. Lada-Mocarski 89. Monaghan 1174. Sabin 61001. Strathern & Edwards 441. Streeter VI 3513. Wickersham 6623a. Howgego P64.. 1st Edition.