VOYAGES ET AVANTURES DE JAQUES MASSE
A Bourdeaux (ie. The Hague): James L'Aveugle, 1710 [ie. 1714]. First Edition. 12mo, pp. viii, 508. Bound in contemporary calf (neatly rebacked in antique style), little rubbed, some minor foxing soiling, a very good tight copy. Rosenberg "A" Gove, 217-219; Cioranescu 62587; Barbier IV, 1103; Atkinson, 'The Extraordinary Voyage in French Literature', p. 70; Rosenberg, pp. 84-5. The genuine first edition, falsely dated. Item #39159
An important imaginary journey to Australia, called a "landmark" by Atkinson. Based on a variety of real voyages the descriptions are believable and realistic. The author offers a detailed account of making a camp, building a raft. While the book did not range much beyond the confines of the traditional Utopias of the times, it did, however, include "living fossils," giant birds and strange flora that survived from prehistoric eras, arguably making it one of the first modern Lost World novels. After being shipwrecked on the continent, the narrator and a friend pressed on and developed a farm in "a plentiful, fruitful country" until forced to flee by a treacherous woman.
Tyssot de Patot (1655-1727) was a Huguenot who lived most of his life in Holland where he pursued a career as professor of Mathematics at the Athenaeum Illustre in Deventer, the capital of the province of Overijssel.
Price: $2,000.00 save 20% $1,600.00