DOMENY DE RIENZI, Grégoire Louis.

£500 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

L'Univers. Histoire et description de tous les Peuples. Océanie. First edition thus of this substantial survey of Oceania, issued as part of Domeny de Rienzi's ambitious universal history of peoples and cultures. The work compiles a wide range of earlier voyage literature, presenting accounts of the islands of the Pacific.The second volume includes an extended section on Hawai'i, describing the islands' society, customs, political structures, and landscape up to the early 19th century. Throughout the three volumes, the text is accompanied by numerous engraved plates, many adapted from earlier travel artists such as Weber, Choris, Arago, Ellis, and Dampier.Originally issued in 90 livraisons in 1836-7, the work proved influential enough to be translated into several European languages soon after publication.

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