VALAMONT, P. de - Lot 157

VALAMONT, P. de The Truth about the Port Breton Colony and the Marquis of Rays. Nîmes, Lafare frères typographical printing house, 1889. In-12 (199 x 125 mm) of 154 pp, 1 f.n.ch. of table. Paperback, modern cover, slipcase and folder. First edition in bookstore, extracted from the Sténographie du jugement du Marquis de Rays and the Journal la Nouvelle France. "In 1877, the Marquis Charles de Rays launched an ambitious program of private colonization; against all odds his appeal was heard: in France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, and Germany subscribers and candidates for emigration enlisted. Four ships were armed and, from September 1879 to March 1881, more than six hundred colonists embarked for Port-Praslin - renamed Port-Breton - in New Ireland where, very quickly, they were disillusioned by the harshness of the natural conditions and the imperialism of the promoters. Utopian dream, chimera, gigantic swindle? How to qualify the project of the marquis? How to evaluate the reception that the civil and religious institutions made to him on the one hand, of the private individuals seduced by the prospect of a better life on the other hand? For the justice, the doubt is removed: in 1884, the marquis is condemned for swindling, decision confirmed in appeal and in cassation" (Daniel Raphalen, L'Odyssée du Port-Breton, Rennes 2006). A good copy with all margins, cover in facsimile.