[Paris, Leon]:

$2,500 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

SOUVENIR DE LA BELLONE, 1870-71-72. A volume of engravings depicting the voyage of the ship Bellone and seafaring life. Following the "title" plate, which is numbered 21, are scenes of Africa, primarily in Senegal. These plates depict the natives, villages, and cities. After the scenes of Africa are plates depicting maritime life, evidently on a French naval vessel in the Atlantic. These images are much more delicately engraved and are not numbered. The first few of these detail a "day in the life" of a sailor, from morning muster and breakfast, through scrubbing the deck and inspection, and shore leave. Two plates of Uruguay and two unidentified landscapes are also inexplicably inserted in the midst of this sequence. An interesting and perhaps unique compilation of travel and maritime images.

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