MERLAND, Constant - Lot 116

MERLAND, Constant Seventeen years among the Indians. Narcisse Pelletier. Notice by C. Merland. Sold for the benefit of N. Pelletier. Paris, E. Dentu, 1876. In-12 (181 x 117 mm) with a photomechanical portrait, 2 ff.n.ch., II, 185 pp. 2 ff.n.ch. (table and errata), 6 lithographed plates of which 1 folding. Half tan leather, smooth spine, printed cover preserved (modern binding). Missing Ferguson. First edition, very rare. It contains the account of the journey of the young sailor Narcisse Pelletier, told by Constant Merland, "1857, Narcisse Pelletier, a fourteen year old sailor from Vendée, embarked in Marseille on a ship that was to take him to Sydney. After being stranded off the coast of New Guinea, attacked by a tribe and spending twelve days in a rowboat, the teenager is abandoned on a small islet at the northern tip of Australia. While he believes he is condemned to die, he is taken in by a group of Aborigines, the Uutaalnganu. It is a total cultural immersion and, in principle, definitive. Narcisse learns the language, the techniques, the rites: he becomes an aborigine. Seventeen years later, British sailors spot the young white man and, determined to 'save' him, force him back to France. Narcisse's life changes a second time" (librest.com). The photographic frontispiece shows Narcisse Pelletier in bust form with tribal scarifications on his torso. The 6 plates illustrating the book contain a facsimile of a letter from the young sailor, drawings of wooden weapons, and notes of aboriginal songs. The last plate of songs with small holes slightly affecting the text, light wetness at the right corner.