George Keate - Relation des îles Pelew - 1788

This original 1788 French edition of George Keate's account of the Pelew Islands constitutes a precious testimony of the early contacts between Europeans and the peoples of the western Pacific.

KEATE (George).
Relation of the Pelew Islands, situated in the western part of the Pacific Ocean; composed from the journals and communications of Captain Henry Wilson, and of some of his Officers, who, in August seventeen eighty-three, were wrecked there on the Antelope, a packet ship of the East India Company.
Translated from the English by George Keate, Esquire, Member of the Royal Society, and of the Antiquaries.
In Paris, at Le Jay, bookseller / Maradan, bookseller, 1788.
2 volumes in-8vo (12.50 x 19.50 cm) collations: Volume I: xvj, [2], 282 pages; Volume II: [4], 274 pages, [3] ff. (tables and approbation).

Original edition of the French translation, adorned with a superb portrait of Captain Henry Wilson in the frontispiece, a large folding map of the Pelew Islands and surrounding areas, and splendid engravings after the drawings of A.W. Devis (portraits of Abba Thulle and local dignitaries, scenes of life and topographical views).

Contemporary half vellum binding with smooth spines. Card boards. Some rubbing. Interior well preserved. A large map and very fine engravings. Some plates are missing. All plates are photo-reproduced.

This exceptional testimony relates the odyssey of the Antelope's crew, wrecked on lands at that time unknown to Europeans. The work caused considerable philosophical and literary resonance, offering one of the first documentary insights into a Pacific island society.

At the publication of the work in England and then in France, the young Prince Lee Boo, son of the Pelewan king, was brought to London by Captain Wilson to be presented at the court of George III and to study British manners. His elegance and curiosity caused a sensation in London drawing rooms, to the point that the aristocracy crowded to behold him. Tragically carried off by smallpox a few months later, his death deeply moved the public, instantly transforming Keate's book into a highly sought-after volume for bibliophiles eager to acquire complete copies of its maps and plates.