[BEHRENS, Karl Friedrich (b. 1701)] - [Jacob ROGGEVEEN (1659-1729)]:

Histoire de l'Expedition de Trois Vaisseaux aux Terres Australes en MCCCXXI

The Hague: Depens de la Compagne, 1739. 2 volumes, 12mo (6 1/16 x 3 3/4 inches). Titles printed in red and black. [12], 224; [4], 254pp. Half titles.

Later full polished calf, spine gilt with raised bands, marbled endpapers. In a modern slipcase.

First French edition of Behren's account of Jacob Roggeveen's 1721-22 Pacific voyage.

The first French edition of Behren's German account of Jacob Roggeveen's 1721-22 Pacific voyage, which provided important impetus for further exploration for the great Southern Continent. The author was a sergeant and commander of marines on the voyage. Contemporary accounts of Roggeveen's explorations were first published in Dutch in 1728 and in German beginning in 1735. This French translation was based on the Frankfurt and Leipzig editions of 1737. Behrens' scarce narrative tells the story of one of the most significant of the Dutch voyages, ranking with those of Le Maire, Schouten and Tasman. Roggeveen set out to rediscover the part of Terra Australis which Quiros had led the exploring world to believe existed, but in fact added substantially to the Dutch record of Polynesian discoveries, with Easter Island and Samoa described here for the first time. "Roggewein's is the first certified account of contact with Easter Island and its great stone images, as well as the last of the great Dutch circumnavigations" (Cox). "Though some attribute the translation to Charles de Brosses, [Chareles Pierre Claret] Fleurieu believed that the style of language revealed the efforts of a non-native speaker. With the text often more a paraphrasing of the German version than a direct translation, Fleurieu and others credit Behrens himself with the translation" (Hill).

European Americana 739/21; Sabin 4379; Hill 99; Cox I, p.51; Borba de Moraes, p.95; Howgego R63.

Item #28620

Price: $7,000.00