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43 - CHAPPE D’AUTEROCHE (Jean) & KRACHENINNIKOW (Stepan).
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Estimate €3,000 - €5,000
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Description
CHAPPE D’AUTEROCHE (Jean) & KRACHENINNIKOW (Stepan). A Journey to Siberia, undertaken by order of the King in 1761; containing the customs and traditions of the Russians, and the current state of that power; a geographical description and survey of the route from Paris to Tobolsk; the natural history of the same route; astronomical observations; and experiments on natural electricity. [...] – A Journey to Siberia containing a description of Kamchatka. Paris, Debure, 1768. 2 volumes and an atlas uniformly bound in 5 folio volumes in havana half-shagreen, ribbed spine, title and volume numbers gilt (modern binding). First volume (Tome I, Part One): [2] ff., frontispiece, xxx-[2]-347 pp., 20 plates; Second volume (Tome I, Part Two): [2] ff., pp. 346–767 (page 677 damaged), 6 plates; Third volume (Tome II): xvi-306 pp., 13 plates; Fourth volume (Tome II, continued): pp. 307–627, [5] pp., 7 plates. Scattered small foxing spots. Tears with loss in the lower margin of the first two folios of the second volume. A few faint, angular water stains in places in the fourth volume. The four volumes of text, printed on fine, strong vellum paper, are illustrated with a frontispiece, two vignettes (one on the title page), 46 (out of 56) plates, including 3 (out of 4) finely engraved intaglio fold-out plates after Jean-Baptiste Le Prince, Moreau the Younger and Caresme de Fécamp, depicting mainly views, scenes of daily life, costumes and animals, as well as a fold-out table of temperatures recorded during periods of extreme cold. Ten plates are missing from the first volume. The atlas volume is illustrated with a frontispiece after Le Prince and 30 engraved fold-out plates (maps, several of which have raised outlines, cross-sectional routes, plans and cross-sections of gold mines, etc.). “This atlas has become rare” (Boucher de La Richarderie – Volume 5, pp. 448), “because the copper plates were stolen from Mr De Bure several years ago”. First edition of one of the finest travel books published during the Age of Enlightenment. Abbé Jean Chappe d’Auteroche (1728–1769) had been entrusted with a scholarly mission to Siberia, notably to observe the transit of Venus across the sun in June 1761. During his journey, which lasted just under two years, from November 1760 to August 1762, the author travelled through Russia and Siberia, made numerous scientific observations and gathered valuable descriptions of the customs of the inhabitants, the natural history and the geology of this vast region. This lavishly produced volume contains the author’s account and personal observations, the French translation of the first complete description of the Kamchatka Peninsula by the Russian botanist Krascheninnikoff, and the scientific data collected by Chappe d’Auteroche during his journey.
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About the sale Bibliophilia (sale without a live event)
Auction location
Auction time 09/09/2026 at 1:00 PM
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