First edition. 18 lithographed plates (some dated 1845, seven handcoloured). 8vo. Contemporary quarter calf over paper paste boards, a little spotted throughout. 164pp. Rochefort, Mercier & Devons, 1844 [but, 1845.
A very good copy of this rare work by Pierre-Adolphe Lesson (1805-88), brother of the more famous René (1794-1849), who has contributed some (printed) annotations to the work. Mangareva is the largest of the Gambier Islands, 1600 kilometres south of Tahiti.
Pierre-Adolphe initially apprenticed as a carpenter before studying medicine at Rochefort in 1821. He sailed to the Pacific with Jules Dumont d'Urville on his 1826-29 expedition on the Astrolabe, which made stops at Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, New Caledonia, Mangareva, Vanikoro, and the Caroline Islands.
In 1839 he sailed on the Pylade under Captain F. Bernard, which participated in the blockade of Buenos Aires before sailing to the Pacific and visiting Valparaiso, Mangareva, the Marquesas, and Hawaii. This work concerns just the first part of the Pylade voyage to Eastern Polynesia. and specifically Mangareva. In addition to the voyage narrative and observations of the Native people, their customs and habits, there are many references to his earlier time there with Dumont d'Urville.
With the annexation of the Marquesas in 1842, Lesson was appointed Chief Physician of the islands and so he was a Pacific veteran in his own right by the time he came to write this book. Promoted to Chief Physician of the Pacific colonies in 1846, he remained in the Marquesas until 1849 when ill-health forced his return to France. His life-long interest in the Pacific was borne out with the publication of his four volume ethnography, Les Polyne´siens in 1883-84.
While dated 1844 on the title-page, 1845 is printed on the upper wrapper and the text is also dated 1845 at the conclusion. The plates are all after drawings by the author and curiously do not depict anything from Mangareva. Instead we see flowers, artefacts, and people from the Marquesas (plates 1-10), Australia, and New Zealand.
Just a single copy at auction in 2017. O'Reilly, 1036; not in Hill.
