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Voyages to America, Asia and Africa, 1854, 1855; Montemont [197659]

Currency:USD Category:Books / Antiquarian & Collectible Start Price:500.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD
Voyages to America, Asia and Africa, 1854, 1855; Montemont [197659]
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Voyages en Amerique par Christophe Colomb etc.; illustrations by Barcourt and Mettais, text by M. Albert-Montemont, Paris, 1854. [plus] Voyages en Asie, 1855; [plus] Voyages en Afrique, 1855, all within the same bound volume. Each article within each "book" is paginated separately in both volumes (see below). Quality hand colored, full page illustrations throughout, as well as uncolored illustrations among the text throughout. Contains an oval stamp in the first page of the latter two "books" "No. 86 Rue Chartres, Nouveau Orleans" (the bookseller in New Orleans.) Each volume also has full page maps of the regions. The entire work is in French.
A second companion volume entitled: Voyages autour du Monde et Oceanie par Bougainville … etc. ; 1857.
The hand colored illustrations in these two volumes are of particular interest - early artistic rendition of native peoples. Their titles are indicative of the culture of the "west" at the time, eg "Jeaune Sauvage ("Young Savage") in the Christophe Colomb section.
Provenance: inscribed in the front fly is the name "Ch Cuvellier, 1 Janvier 1865". General Gabriel Charles Cuvellier (1790-1845) was a Major in the Army of Napoleon 1st, and became a General in the Louisiana Legion. He remained in New Orleans. His son Charles Cuvellier, inscribed herein and original owner of this book, was appointed a Colonel of the Louisiana region in 1830. A portion of the direct descendants of Charles landed in California, where at least one became a politician in the Oakland area about 1900. Part of the family records are found in another lot in this sale, including a political broadside.
These two volumes are exceedingly rare. Part, or all (difficult to tell) have been reprinted. There are references to similar printings, but those citations specifically state the volume number on the title page, and no such notations are found here. Further, I found no discussions of the content and layout layout, which I find significantly lacking.
Howes (2nd ed.) cites another work by Albert-Montemont "De L'Oregon et de la Californie…" 1846, but does not cite this important work. It does appear that there is an earlier printing or edition, in whole or in part, from the 1840s.
The America section centers specifically on the early Spanish explorers and others. There are 14 chapters that include (in order) Columbus, Cortez, Pizzaro, Cabral, Humboldt and more. Columbus, thought to be the first to reach the shores of America, and Cortez- etc. As an example of Montemont's work, he has a very lengthy discussion of Columbus' voyages, followed by a lengthy biography, perhaps one of the best at the time, resulting in a chapter fully 44pp in length. The work does not include Coronado, who searched from Mexico to Kansas looking for the elusive city of gold "Quivera".

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