[Rarebooks] fa: SHIPWRECK AND ADVENTURES OF PIERRE VIAUD 1771 - First Ed. in English

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auctions ending Sunday, November 2. More details and images can be found at the URL below or by searching under the seller name arch_in_la.

http://tinyurl.com/phzj5gm

Thanks,
Ardwight Chamberlain
L.A.


Pierre Viaud; Elizabeth Griffith, trans.: The Shipwreck and Adventures of Monsieur Pierre Viaud, A Native of Bourdeaux, and Captain of a Ship. Translated from the French by Mrs. Griffith. London: Printed for T. Davies, 1771. First English edition. Recent quarter calf and marbled boards, gilt-lettered morocco spine label; 8vo; [iiI]-xii, 276 p. (bound without the half-title page); engraved frontispiece. ESTC T138378; Huntress 80C; Sabin 99415; Howes V-86.

The first English translation of this graphic, grisly, and therefore immensely popular account of the horrific travails of Viaud and three other survivors of Le Tigre, a French brigantine wrecked near Dog Island off the coast of Florida. The travails were especially horrific for Viaud's slave, who was eventually killed and eaten by the others. Despite occasional melodramatic embellishments, Viaud's account is more dependable than many another castaway's; Howes states: "In maritime annals, few personal narratives seem better authenticated than this account of shipwreck and horrifying sufferings on this island off Florida’s west coast."

Occasional modest browning and spotting, most noticeable on the first and last few leaves, light offsetting to the title-page from the frontispiece; otherwise quite clean and sound in a fresh, handsome modern binding.