Description
COCHELET (Charles).
The shipwreck of the French brig La Sophie, lost on 30 May 1819 off the west coast of Africa, and the captivity of some of the shipwrecked crew in the Sahara Desert; with new information on the city of Timbuktu.
Paris: Librairie universelle de P. Mongie aîné, 1821. — 2 volumes in-8, 197 x 121: frontispiece, xvj, 348 pp., 1 plate; frontispiece, (2 ff.), 368 pp., (2 ff.), 1 map. Dark blue half-basane, plain spine with decoration, speckled edges (contemporary binding).
First edition of this autobiographical account, combining personal adventure, ethnography and geography.
Charles Cochelet (1786–1860) recounts his shipwreck on the African coast (near Cape Juby, in present-day Morocco) on 30 May 1819, whilst travelling to Brazil aboard La Sophie. The survivors, including himself, were captured by Bedouins, sold into slavery, and then led across the Sahara. Cochelet is said to have visited the Ouled Delim (a Saharan tribe) and Timbuktu (referred to as Timectou in the text), a city off-limits to foreigners at the time. He was ransomed by the Sultan of Morocco in Mogador (Essaouira), then returned to Marseille in February 1820, thanks to the intervention of Gabriel Delessert and his brother Adrien Delessert, the French Consul-General in Egypt.
This copy features a large fold-out map of part of Africa, as well as 3 of the 11 plates intended to illustrate the work, lithographed by Horace Vernet.
Normal wear to the spines. Scattered foxing. Tears to the inner edge of the half-title page of the second volume.
Provenance:
Ex-libris ‘C.D.’ and signature on the half-title pages.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale
Claude Mozis Library – Black Africa and the African diaspora
Auction location
Auction time
10/21/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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