Hawaii. Massacre of Captain De Langle..on Big Island ‘Maouna’ c1835

$35.00

Massacre de Capitaine De Langle et de ses Compagnons sur l'Ile Maouna.

This engraving is from Voyages Pittoresque Autour de Monde  (Picturesque Voyages around the World) published in Paris circa 1834, under the direction of Dumont d'Urville. This interesting work contained information and engravings from the voyages of discoveries of Magellan, Tasman, Dampier, Anson, Byron, Wallis, Carteret, Bougainville, Cook, Laperouse, G. Bligh, Vancouver, D'Entrecasteaux, Wilson, Baudin, Flinders, Krunsenstern, Porter, Kotzebue, Freycinet, Bellinghausen, Basil Hall, Duperrey, Paulding, Beechey, Dumont d'Urville, Lutke, Dillon, Laplace, B.Morrel, etc.

Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (1790-1842), was physically weak but a prodigious student who loved botany and entomology, learned many foreign languages, and was captivated by news of discoveries from around the world. He became a naval officer and explorer, and ultimately, a Rear Admiral.

From 1822 to 1825, with Lieutenant Louis Isidore Duperrey in command of the Coquille, D'Urville explored the Pacific, including Australia, New Zealand, and Antarctica. On his first voyage he named hundreds of new botanical specimens, and insects. Because of his good memory and capacity for languages, he also acquired a knowledge of native dialects around Polynesia and Melanesia. D'Urville was fascinated by the different cultures of the region. Dumont d'Urville was the explorer who differentiated and named the groups of Pacific islands. From 1826 to 1829 D'Urville returned to the Pacific in command of Coquille, renamed Astrolabe in honour of La Perouse.Most of the engravings were printed two on a page, one above the other, but a few, on their sides, occupied the whole page – as in this instance. The page measures 175 x 265 mm (approximately 7 x 10.5 inches). This page has fine later hand-colour.