LESSON [(René Primevere)]. Voyage autour du monde entrepris par ordre du gouvernement sur la corvette La Coquille. Bruxelles, N.J. Gregoire, V. Wouters et Cie, 1839, 4 vol. 8° reliés en deux, 195-[1] et 220-[1]-1 blanche ; 246-[1]-1 blanche et...
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201-1 blanche-[1]-1 blanche p., frontispice à chaque volume, demi-veau brun de l'époque, dos à larges nerfs, décors dorés et à froid (petites traces d'usure aux reliures, rousseurs). Contrefaçon publiée l'année de l'originale. Uncommon account of the voyage of the Coquille, a French scientific expedition under the command of Louis-Isidore Duperry. This detailed and engaging narrative was written by René Primevere Lesson, surgeon and naturalist, and includes much detail lacking in Duperry's own account. The expedition travelled extensively throughout the Pacific, including Tahiti and the Solomons, and stopped at Port Jackson before sailing to the Bay of Islands. The expedition followed in the wake of the previous French scientific voyage to the Pacific under Dumont d'Urville, who assisted Duperry in his preparations prior to departure from Toulon in August 1822. Lesson was a careful and lively observer. He received little formal education and joined the navy as medical assistant ; here his natural aptitude was recognised and formal training as a surgeon ensued. Lesson was fascinated by natural history from a young age, and relished the many opportunities offered during the voyage of the Coquille. Lesson describes his personal interactions with natives peoples throughout the Pacific, including King Bungaree at Port Jackson, who was tasked with waiting upon the French officers with his Aboriginal companions. By the early 1820s the Pacific was undergoing rapid social change, and hopeful expectations often did not match the reality encountered. On anchoring in Tahiti the Frenchmen were disappointed, « finding to their astonishment that this renowned South Seas paradise was turning into a strict, puritanical society ruled by fundamental English missionaries » (Dunmore). Nonetheless Lesson's observations are of lasting value, especially his vocabularies that include Maori and Aboriginal dialects.
