Voyage de Decouvertes aux Terres Australes execute sur les Corvettes Le Geographe, Le Naturaliste, et la Goelette Le Casuarina, pendant les annees 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803 et 1804.

A very good set of the first edition of the Nicholas Baudin voyage of the exploration of Australia, written by Francois Peron (1775-1810).

With the first printed map of the completed Australian coastline, published prior to Matthew Flinders.

First edition, 2 volumes of text and atlas, 2 engraved titles and an engraved portrait of Peron, 2 folding tables, 40 engraved plates including, a large folding plate of Sydney, 23 hand coloured engravings and 14 maps. Minor spotting in places as usual, slight browning to text in places. The folding maps with the usual splits. Bound in contemporary half-calf , spines gilt, lightly rubbed. The magnificent plates (num. II-XLI) are of coastal profiles, the Aborigines, fauna and view. The map part, contains the first printed chart of Australia, Carte Generale de la Nouvelle Hollande by Freycinet’s.

Baudin died in 1803 on the homeward voyage, so publication of the account and charts of his voyage was undertaken by Francois Peron, the expedition’s naturalist. The first volume of Voyage de decouvertes aux Terres Australes and Volume I of Atlas, which included plates, was released in 1807. French place names were recorded for ‘Terre Napoleon’ west of Wilson’s Promontory. As Peron died in 1810, cartographer Louis de Freycinet continued to edit the voyage’s account, and in 1811 he published the second part of the Atlas, which featured the charts of the expedition, again recording French place names on ‘Terre Napoleon.’

The French expedition, together with Flinders, completed the cartographic exploration of the Australian southern coasts. The French had detained Matthew Flinders on Mauritius with his manuscript maps of Australia which allowed the French to publish their account of the voyage first. The promotion of names such as ‘Terre Napoléon’ and ‘Cape Bonaparte’ greatly concerned the British in that they feared French claims to this territory would soon follow.