VANCOUVER, George (1757-1798). Voyage de Decouvertes, a l'Ocean Pacifique du Nord. Paris, 1800. FIRST EDITION IN FRENCH.

4 volumes, comprising: text, 3 volumes, 4to (310 x 227 mm); atlas, folio (650 x 475 mm). Text: Half-titles, 18 engraved plates; atlas: 16 engraved maps and profiles (10 double-page). (Dampstaining and minor staining to atlas.) Text: Modern half calf antique, uncut, largely unopened, publisher's blue paper wrappers bound in (some scuffs and minor discoloration); atlas: Contemporary boards (rebacked and recovered to style). Provenance: Jules Remy (signature in atlas); P. G. Skinos (bookplate).FIRST EDITION IN FRENCH OF ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEYS. "This voyage became one of the most important ever made in the interests of geographical knowledge" (Hill). After serving on Cook's second and third voyages, Vancouver was made commander of a grand-scale expedition to establish Britain's territorial rights in the Pacific North West following the Nootka Convention at Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island in 1790. His orders were also to examine thoroughly the coast south of 60 in order to find a possible passage to the Atlantic. Over the course of three seasons, he surveyed the coast of California (visiting San Francisco and San Diego), met with the Spanish at Nootka, discovered the Strait of Georgia, circumnavigated Vancouver island, and proved that no passage existed between the Pacific and Hudson's Bay. He died in 1798, and his narrative was completed by his brother and by Peter Puget. Hill notes that Vancouver undertook his surveys "with a thoroughness rarely equalled in the history of maritime exploration...completing the most arduous survey that it had fallen any navigator to undertake." Ferguson 320b; see Hill 1753 (English edition); Lada-Mocarski 55; Sabin 98441.