Voyage dans L'Inde,

£25,000 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

Scarce in commerce, rarely appearing on the market as complete. Aged 28, Jacquemont travelled to India for what was to be a three and a half year expedition collecting natural history specimens for the Jardin des Plantes. He explored the Western Himalayas including the Tibetan plateau, the Punjab and Kashmir, discovering several hundred new species. He became seriously ill in the mountains but succeeded in reaching Simla. After recovering he made a short visit to Ladakh and returned to Simla in the autumn and thence to Lahore where he met Ranjit Singh. He is said to have been the first European after Bernier to visit Kashmir, where he arrived early in 1831, and spent five months studying plants and animals. In spite of his illness returning, he visited Ladakh. In February 1832 he returned to Simla and Delhi and went to Bombay intending to return to France but died before he could make the return. His manuscripts (including his personal journal) and collections were edited, described and published in the present work. The botanical section was written by Joseph Decaisne and Jacques Cambessedes, and is accompanied by 180 plates after A. Riocreux and E. Delisle. The mammals are described by Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, the crustaceans by Milne Edwards and the insects by Blanchard. The other plates include portraits, architectural and topographical studies and views. The original botanical plate (29) featuring 'Flourenzia Caepitosa' was later replaced by a new plate of 'Periandra Caep

• Binding: Hardcover

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