Détail sur la navigation aux côtes de Saint-Domingue

4° of (2) ll., 81 pp. Contemporary green morocco, triple gilt fillet on covers, gold medaillon at the center on a piece of morocco, ribbed spine with the king’s crowned monogram L and 29 fleur de lys title piece in red Morocco, inner gilt, gilded edges. Contemporary binding with crowned monogram of the king Louis XVI, the king’s arms having been covered after the French Revolution by a piece of Morocco bearing the inscription « Marine de la République Française ».

258 x 195 mm.

Chastenet de Puységur, Antoine. Détail sur la navigation aux côtes de Saint-Domingue et dans ses débouquemens.
Paris, de l'Imprimerie royale, 1787.

Very rare first edition.

The work is part of a general movement of publications prompted by the creation in 1720 of the Depot of Maps, Plans, and Journals of the Navy, intended to collect all documents of hydrographic interest.

An attractive copy preserved in its contemporary morocco.

The copy bore the royal arms: during the Revolution, the arms were scraped off and an oval piece of morocco was affixed, bearing a large gilt medallion of the French Republic Navy. The spine has retained its original ornamentation: two interlaced and crowned Ls referring to the former king, Louis Capet. Stamp scraped off the title and page 79. (Sabin, no. 12235; Chadenat, no. 1069).

Authorized on April 4, 1777 to travel to Great Britain, Chastenet de Puységur returned to France in April 1778. He boarded the 80-gun ship Languedoc on April 6, 1778, in Vice-Admiral d’Estaing's squadron, taking part in the Battle of St. Lucia (December 15, 1778), then in the capture of Grenada and the battle off that island against Vice-Admiral John Byron's English squadron (July 6, 1779), and finally in the expedition against Savannah (September 16-October 9, 1779). According to a report by Vice-Admiral d’Estaing, “...he was charged, during the siege of Savannah, with the command of the flute la Bricolle, which he discharged with distinction, sometimes anchoring several times under fire from the enemy's land batteries, sometimes engaging in several combats with the English galleys and frigates. Mr. de Puysegur, although assistant major general, was requested by Mr. Chevalier Du Rumain, who commanded the Chimère, to assist him in the difficult and dangerous operation of securing the communication between the naval army and the land troops besieging the city. Mr. de Puysegur dared still more: after lightening la Bricolle and quickly making her capable of carrying eighteen-pounder guns, he spent several days sailing up the Savannah River; his soundings, anchorings and numerous maneuvers are a masterpiece of navigation. Batteries, boats, and unknown shoals did not stop him, and he managed to anchor under the city; he withstood fire from his artillery and on several occasions various attacks and finally ensured the retreat.” He left the squadron on September 14, 1779, to return to France aboard the supply ship Truite. Commanding the 20-gun corvette Vautour in the Leeward Islands from March 31, 1784 to September 31, 1785, he undertook a hydrographic campaign during which he drew an accurate map of the various bays of Saint-Domingue and the four channels in the north of the island. A disciple of Franz Anton Mesmer and convinced of the existence of animal magnetism, he also used his stay in this colony to establish a local branch of the Society of Universal Harmony.

Superb copy bound in contemporary green morocco with the arms and crowned, interlaced cipher of King Louis XVI.