SCHELCHER, Xavier Eugène, & Georges Charpentier (illus.).

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Croisière du Steam-Yacht Medjé en Angleterre, Ecosse et Irlande, Juillet-Août, 1892 - original manuscript account with finely engraved illustrations. A finely executed illustrated manuscript documenting a pleasure cruise around Britain on the steam-yacht Medjé in the summer of 1892. The voyage won the Union des yachts français medal for the most interesting cruise of 1891-93, a sharp silver print of which, with the presentation letter from the comte de Montaigu, is mounted at the front. Portions of the narrative appeared in Le Yacht in 1894.The account offers a lively Belle Époque tour of the British Isles - effectively a circumnavigation, shortened by the Caledonian Canal - with etched illustrations after pen-and-ink drawings by the Rochellois maritime artist Georges Charpentier (1846-1925). The yacht belonged to Xavier Eugène Schelcher (1867-1948), a wealthy Parisian stockbroker and new member of the Union des yachts français.Departing Le Havre in July 1892, the Medjé ran down the English coast to Plymouth, passing through the Royal Naval Manoeuvres and prompting newspaper speculation that she carried French naval observers. Welcomed in Plymouth with a tour of the naval installations and an abundant lunch, the party continued west, shooting seabirds and bathing off Penzance before crossing to Ireland. At Kingstown and Dublin they visited the Royal Irish Yacht Club and commented - sometimes archly - on the city's poverty, accompanied by Charpentier's vivid sketches. Excursio

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.