OEXMELIN, Alexandre-Olivier - Lot 122

OEXMELIN, Alexandre-Olivier History of the adventurers buccaneers who have made their mark in the Indies; containing what they have done of note with the life, manners & customs of the Buccaneers & the inhabitants of St. Domingue & the Turtle. New edition. Trévoux, la Compagnie, 1775. 4 volumes in-12 (165 x 95 mm) of 6 f.n.ch., 394 pp. 1 f.n.ch., 5 engraved folding plates for volume I; 1 f.n.ch., 428 pp. 2 engraved folding plates, engraved frontispiece bound before page 366 of volume II; 347 pp. for volume III; 1 f.n.ch., LX, 355 pp. 1 f.n.ch. for volume IV. Porphyry calf, triple gilt fillet, smooth spine decorated, green morocco title and gilt stamps, gilt edges (period binding). Sabin, 23478. See Borba I, 300 (for other editions); Beautiful and important edition of the French translation, of which volume 3 contains Le Journal du voyage fait à la mer du sud by Ravenau de Lussan, volume 4 is occupied by the French translation of La Vie et les aventures de deux femmes pirates, Marie Read et Anne Bonny by Captain Charles Johnson. First published in Dutch in Amsterdam in 1678, Oexmelin's story was a runaway success in the travel literature bookstore, with translations following in quick succession. The first edition of the French translation of 1686 by de Fontignières was only 2 volumes. The accounts of Ravenau de Lusson and Johnson were added in 1689 and 1744 respectively. This edition is illustrated with a frontispiece (misplaced in the middle of the second volume) engraved and dated 1743 as well as 7 plates with views, maps and portraits (A frontispiece dated 1743; A buccaneer, completed at the bottom with 3 small engravings on the way of life of the buccaneers (p. 11); Map of the mouth of the lake of Maracaibo (p. 177); Plan of Vera Cruz with the Isles (sic) of St. Jean de Luz (p. 261); Spanish pirogue (p. 311); Manner of fishing the turtle, a manatee, 3 categories of harpoon (p. 373) - Vol II: Map of the Isthmus of Panama (p. 97); Plan of the city of Cartagena (p. 317) Trace of wetness in the margin of volume III, one plate of volume II reinserted. A nicely bound copy.