Letter from Louis Isidore Duperrey to Armand Louis Charles Rose de Lostanges, 15 May 1823

MLMSS 9967

item

15 May 1823

1009320

0.03 metres of textual material (1 folder) - manuscripts

Louis Isidore Duperrey (1786-1865) joined the French navy in 1803 and rose rapidly through the ranks, serving as Lieutenant on board Louis de Freycinet’s L’Uranie from 1817 to 1820. This expedition around the world saw Duperrey take charge of hydrographic activities and he produced valuable observations on the earth’s shape and on terrestrial magnetism, along with numerous charts. In 1822 he was given command of the corvette La Coquille on a scientific and geographic expedition to Oceania. Duperrey was also instructed to report on the viability of establishing a penal colony in Western Australia. His second-in-command was Jules Dumont d'Urville, who was to become the most experienced French commander in the Pacific. In the course of the voyage Duperrey made two visits to the Australian mainland including a month-long stay in Sydney. He returned to France in 1825 with an astonishing collection of unknown plants and animals as well as a wide variety of fish and invertebrates from Chile, Peru, the Pacific islands, Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea.

Reference: Library correspondence file

Douglas Stewart bought the letter from a dealer in Paris (a former President of the French Association of Antiquarian Booksellers) and the item had been in a private collection for many years prior to that.

Letter, written and signed by Louis Isidore Duperrey, addressed to Armand Louis Rose de Lostanges; headed ‘La Corvette La Coquille – Baie de Matavai (ile de Tahiti)’, Le 15 Mai 1823. Manuscript in ink on wove paper with engraved letterhead of the Ministère de la Marine et des Colonies; 4 pages written on 3 sides, the final page with address panel and wax seals, and the Paris arrival stamp dated ‘Mars 20 1824’

Out of copyright:
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