Abbé Expilly - Le géographe manuel - 1761

EXPILLY, Jean-Joseph (Abbé).
Le Géographe Manuel, containing a Description of All the Countries of the World, their qualities, climate, the character of their inhabitants, their capital cities, with their distances from Paris, & the Routes leading there... New edition, enlarged, with Geographical Maps.
Chez Bauche, Bookseller. 1761.

1 volume, duodecimo (approx. 16.5 × 10 cm), contemporary full mottled calf. Smooth spine decorated with gilt panels and a garnet morocco title label ("GEOGRAPHE / MANUEL"). Red edges.

Contemporary full calf with superb mottled shades. Spine decorated with gilt floral motifs and raised bands with gilt fillets. Expected wear to the headcaps and corners; joints sound. Original red edges well preserved. Interior in good condition on laid paper, with light dampstaining to several leaves. Copy enriched with superb folding engraved maps (including a world map and maps drawn and engraved by Martinet after Abbé Expilly).

1761 edition of this reference geographical work by Abbé Jean-Joseph Expilly (1719–1793), a member of the Royal Society of Sciences and Fine Letters of Nancy. This practical manual for the use of travelers and curious minds of the Enlightenment provides a comprehensive survey of the civilized world and its routes, here accompanied by a valuable atlas of maps engraved by Martinet (most dated 1760).

A charming and rare pocket-sized eighteenth-century copy, a testament to the geographical science of the Enlightenment.