76. BEAUVOIR (Ludovic de)
Voyage autour du monde, Australie, Java-Siam-CantonPékin-Yeddo-San Francisco. Paris, E. Plon, 1875. 1 vol. in-8° (288 x 205 mm.): [8], 661, [4] pp.; 1 engraved frontispiece, 6 couloured engraved maps, 116 b/w engravings. Illustrations according to L. Breton, A. Marie, G. Saint-Elme engraved on wood by Smeeton, Tilly, Robert and Deschamps. Brown shagreen, raised bands, gilt spine and edges.
Second in-8° edition of this extremely popular account of the author's circumnavigatio. The count Ludovic De Beauvoir (1846-1929) arrived in Melbourne in 1866, and travelled extensively in Australia, trekking overland through the eastern states and Van Diemen's Land, and going the entire length of the east coast, heading for Malaya by way of the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait. « De Beauvoir's narrative of his travels became immensely popular on account of its perceptive observations of the royal courts of South East Asia, its description of a crocodile and rhinoceros hunt and so on » (Howgego III, p. 63). In Macao, De Beauvoir saw the last traces of the Portuguese slave trade. He also includes particularly good material on the Victorian goldfields, especially around Ballarat and Bendigo, but there is also a lively account of Melbourne, some thoughtful comments on the Australian aborigines he met in the bush, and a lengthy digression on the Burke and Wills expedition.
The last part of the book contains a relation of the author’s visit of Canton, Shanghai, Peking, the great wall and the Ming Tombs, Tientsin, its travel down the Pei-Ho on a barge and its meeting with Prince Kong and China’s Regent. Chadenat II, 3122.