Rare, c.19th hand coloured aquatint French view of Sydney Cove, with Fort Macquarie (modern-day Bennelong Point) at left and the western side of Circular Quay.
This is one of only three images of Australia from the official voyage account of Cyrille Pierre Théodore Laplace (1793-1875) in the Favorite, by Barthelemy Lauvergne, the official artist on the expedition. Cyrille Pierre Théodore Laplace (7 November 1793 – 24 January 1875) was a French navigator famous for his circumnavigation of the globe on board La Favorite. He was pivotal in the opening of French trade in the Pacific and was instrumental in the establishment of the Hawaiian Catholic Church. Laplace’s prime objective was to re-establish French influence in Indo-China, to ‘show the flag in the area.[5] He was also asked to gather information that may be of use to merchants, such as customs, harbour regulations, conditions of entry and market information. On 30 December 1829, Laplace departed Toulon with a crew of 177 aboard La Favorite. Laplace arrived at Hobart on 6 July and stayed until 7 August, setting sail for Sydney, arriving on 16 August. In Sydney the crew went to numerous social events, left to a twenty-one gun salute on 21 September 1831. Laplace proposed a short break in New Zealand, and anchored in the Bay of Islands on 2 October. There the crew gave gifts of guns to the Māori chieftains, who in turn greeted them with the haka. On 11 October, the crew took a number of detailed observations of New Zealand, including the Kawakawa River. These observations were taken to be an attempt to claim New Zealand for France, causing excitement in Sydney and even led to the British Government requesting clarification from the French. After his stay in New Zealand, Laplace headed east, arriving in Valparaíso on 14 November. He continued south past Cape Horn and reached Rio de Janeiro on 23 January 1832. After being fare-welled by the crew of a British warship, Laplace set sail for France. After reaching Gibraltar on 11 April, La Favorite anchored in Toulon harbour on 21 April.
From: Laplace, C.P., Voyage autour du monde par les mers de l’Inde et de Chine, exécuté sur la corvette de l’état La Favorite pendant les années 1830, 1831 et 1832.
References:
Hill, J. The Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages. San Diego 1974 : 980..
Sabin, J. A Dictionary of Books Relating to America, from its Discovery to the Present Time. New York. (1936) 1967 : 38985.
Collections:
Bibliotheque Nationale de France: ark:/12148/bpt6k5804645t
Te Papa Museum of New Zealand: RB001294
State Library New South Wales: MMS ID 991012153709702626
