Macintosh/Capper - Voyages en Europe, en Asie et en Afrique - 1786

Remarkable edition documenting British colonial expansion and the geography of Asia at the end of the 18th century, this work gathers the direct observations of two privileged witnesses of the routes of the East.

MACINTOSH, William and CAPPER, James. Voyages in Europe, in Asia and in Africa, containing the description of the manners, customs, laws, productions, manufactures of these Lands, & the itinerary of the English Possessions in India. Begun in 1777, & finished in 1781. Followed by the Voyages of Colonel Capper, in the Indies, through Egypt & the great desert. With remarks on the Adjacent Lands, the Routes, &c. Second volume. Second edition.

In London, and available in Paris, at Regnalt, Bookseller, rue Saint-Jacques, 1786. Octavo of [2] ff., 414 pages, complete with its large folding map of India engraved.

Contemporary full brown marbled calf binding, smooth spine richly ornamented with gold compartment decorations and finials, title piece in red morocco, marbled edges. Wear and losses at corners and spine ends. Ink drawings on the covers. Interior well preserved, pure laid paper with a fine freshness despite light and habitual scattered foxing.

The work centers on the geo-political narratives and observations of the traveler and pamphleteer William Macintosh, together with the topographic and strategic surveys of Colonel James Capper of the English army, offering a meticulous and well-documented description of commercial routes, political structures, and the customs and practices of Oriental populations.

A splendid mixed edition from London and Paris bearing the imprint of Regnault, whose generous margins and the famous folding map served as valuable reference tools for diplomats and merchants of the era interested in the possessions of the East India Company.