This
large finely engraved original
lithograph print illustrating the costumes of the
inhabitants of the Vanikoro and Tikopia Islands - part
of the Solomon Islands group - was engraved by Antoine
Maurin (1793-1860)
and was published in the 1833 edition of
Dumont
d'Urville
Voyage de la corvette l'Astrolabe
Jules
Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville
(1790–1842) - was born
on 23 May 1790 at Condé-sur-Noireau, a village in
Normandy, France. His father was Gabriel François
Dumont, sieur of Urville and an hereditary
Judge; his mother, née Jeanne de Croisilles,
was of a noble French family.
The d'Urvilles, because of their aristocratic
connections, took refuge after the French Revolution in
a secluded part of Normandy. Here, after the death of
his father, Jules was educated by his mother's brother,
a churchman of wide learning. Later he attended the
Lycée Malherbe at Caen. In 1807 he entered the Navy. A
student by talent and inclination, he devoted himself to
learning, both in the humanities and natural sciences.
In 1815 he married. In 1820, while on a visit in a
French naval vessel to the eastern Mediterranean, he was
instrumental in procuring for France a Greek statue
which had been found on Melos – the Venus de Milo.
In 1822–25, while serving on the Coquille, he
surveyed the Falklands, Tahiti and other Pacific
islands, and New Holland (W Australia). In 1826–29 he
commanded the Astrolabe in a voyage around the
world; searching for the ill-fated La Pérouse
expedition, he explored Fiji and many other islands of
Oceania, the New Zealand coast, and the Moluccas. With
the Astrolabe and the Zelée he made a
second circumnavigation in 1837–40, and in 1840 he
penetrated the ice pack south of New Zealand and
discovered the Adélie Coast region in Antarctica.
(Ref: M&B; Tooley)
General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy
Paper color: - White
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue,
red
General color appearance: -
Authentic
Paper size: - 19 1/2in x
13 1/2in (485mm
x 345mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:
Margins: - Light age toning
Plate area: - Light age toning
Verso: - Light age toning
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