Signé; Edmond Jurien de La Gravière - Souvenirs d'un Amiral [avec envoi] - 1860

Rare original edition, in two volumes, of the memoirs of Pierre Roch Jurien de La Gravière (1772-1849), a French naval officer, collected by his son Edmond Jurien de La Gravière.

Enriched with a former donor manuscript signed by Edmond Jurien de la Gravière: [offered by the author].

Interesting travel accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries about the coast of Africa, New Caledonia, the Island of Ambon, the Tonga archipelago, French Guiana, Saint-Domingue, Brazil, Chile, the United States, and others.

Bound in deep green half-leather, with the spine with raised bands decorated with gilded fleurons, the title and date. Gilt headbands. Covers preserved (without the spine). Untrimmed copy.
In good condition. Solid and elegant bindings, spine with some sunning. Scattered foxing and a few marginal notes.

Provenance: Ex-libris manuscript and stamp with the initials of André Barrier, President at the Court of Paris. (1870-1954)

Pierre Roch Jurien de La Gravière entered service under the name Jurien Desvarennes as an apprentice pilot on the corvette La Favorite in May 1786, at the age of 14. He was promoted to volunteer midshipman on the frigate La Flore on November 29, 1787. He took part in the expedition commanded by Joseph de Bruny d'Entrecasteaux, which Louis XVI and the Constituent Assembly sent to search for La Pérouse, with objectives that were not only humanitarian but also scientific.
Knight of the Legion of Honor in Pluviôse, he was made an officer of the Order on 25 Prairial Year XII, and he continued to stand out in February 1809. In 1809, off the coast of Sables-d'Olonne, with three frigates, he fought fiercely against six British ships, forcing them to retreat.

Edmond Jurien de La Gravière
Souvenirs of an Admiral [with inscription]
Paris, Hachette & Cie 1860
2/2 volumes, in-8 (18 x 11.5 cm); 382 pages + 397 pages + 4 pages (catalogue)