LA BILLARDIÈRE (Jacques-Julien Houtou de).Atlas pour servir - Lot 30

LA BILLARDIÈRE (Jacques-Julien Houtou de).Atlas pour servir à la relation du voyage à la recherche de La Pérouse, fait par ordre de l'assemblée constituante, Pendant les années 1791, 1792, et pendant la 1ere et 2eme année de la République Française.Paris : H. J. Jansen, An VIII de la République [1800]. - Large folio, title, 1 map, 43 plates. Half parchment with small corners, green paper label in the form of an escutcheon bearing the title in ink on the first cover, smooth spine (period binding).Atlas only of the Relation du voyage à la recherche de La Pérouse by physician and botanist Jacques-Julien Houtou de La Billardière (1755-1834), author of the first botanical book on the southern hemisphere. During this expedition to Oceania, organized to find the ships La Boussole and L'Astrolabe, La Billardière was entrusted with the mission of studying the natural history of the regions he crossed. His account of the expedition became an international bestseller. The first edition of the atlas illustrating this account consists of a large folding map of the Indian Sea and part of the Southern Sea, drawn by J.D. Barbié du Bocage and finely engraved by François d'Houdan. It includes 43 plates depicting the indigenous peoples of the Friends Islands, New Zealand and Fiji, as well as landscapes, plants and animals observed during the voyage. The engravings are the work of several renowned artists: Jacques-Louis Copia, who reproduced the scenes and portraits of the natives based on Piron's drawings; Jacques-Louis Pérée and Pierre Maleuvre, who worked on the animal representations based on studies by Piron and Jean-Baptiste Audebert; finally, the botanical plates, among the most admired, were engraved by Pérée, mainly based on drawings by Pierre-Joseph Redouté, the undisputed master of botanical illustration. Copy in contemporary binding, complete with engraved title by Dien. The boards are soiled, with significant damage to the spine and part of the boards. Some foxing and soiling to plates. Repair to map.