1791 – Africa Voyages of Francois le Vaillant | Beautiful 5 Volume Set, Illustrated | First Edition

François Le Vaillant was an 18th-century French explorer known for his descriptions of animals and birds in Africa. In 1780, he began a voyage to the Cape of Good Hope with the Dutch East India Company. While there, he collected various specimens of animals and plants, and encountered local natives, the Hottentot people. From the Cape, he made small voyages including a voyage to the Orange River, Namibia, and South Africa.

This particular 1791 edition of Le Vaillant is notable for including the often extracted and censored ‘Hottentot Woman’ engraving. It also includes the 1797 printing of Le Vaillant’s Second Voyage. A beautiful five-volume set.

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Voyage de M. Le Vaillant dans l’intérieur de l’Afrique : par le Cap de Bonne-Espérance, dans les années 1780, 81, 82, 83, 84 et 85
• Author(s): François Le Vaillant
• Illustrator(s):
• Contributor(s):
• Publisher:
  • Bruxelles: Chez Benoit le Francq
  • Amsterdam: Chez Les Libraires Associes.
• Edition: First Brussels Edition. 1791.
• Binding: Contemporary quarter leather over marbled boards
• Format: (8vo), five volumes
• Size:  9.25 × 5.75 in (23.5 × 14.6 cm)
• Collation:
  • Vol. I xx, 274 pp.
  • Vol. II [2], 287 [1] pp.
  • Vol. III [2], xxxii, 191 [1] pp.
  • Vol. IV [4], 264 pp.
  • Vol. V [4], 327 [1] pp.
• Illustrations: 34 engraved plates
  • (12 from the first voyage, 22 from the second), including the censored Hottentot woman plate
• Contents Include:
  • Voyage au Cap de Bonne-Espérance (vols. I–II)
  • Second Voyage dans l’intérieur de l’Afrique (vols. III–V)
• Reference(s): Sabin 39812

Condition:

Very Good. Beautiful bindings in leather and marbled boards, corners sound, gilt spines bright. Text blocks tight and complete, pages clean with mild toning and occasional spotting. Plates crisp and well impressed. Page edges untrimmed.

Why Collect This?

• First Brussels printing of Le Vaillant’s important first African voyage account
• Includes thirty-four plates with the censored image present
• Sought by collectors of early African exploration narratives and censored readership

Item Number: # 29657