Saussure (Horace-Bénédict de). Abridged account of a journey to the summit of Mont Blanc. August 1787. Genève, Barde, Manget & Co, 1787. In-8°, paperback, printed cover. First edition of the account of Saussure's ascent of Mont Blanc (third ascent, following that of Paccard and Balmat in 1786 and that of the guides in 1787). This ascent had a considerable impact throughout Europe. Saussure described the main difficulties of the route: "First you have to cross the Côte glacier to reach the foot of a small chain of rocks [the Grands Mulets] which are enclosed in the snows of Mont-Blanc. This glacier is difficult and dangerous. It is criss-crossed by wide, deep and irregular crevasses; and often you can only cross them on snow bridges, which are sometimes very thin and suspended over abysses". When we reached the top of the last plateau, "the slope was extremely steep, 39° in some places; everywhere it led to precipices, and the surface of the snow was so hard that those who walked first could not ensure their steps without breaking it with an axe... near the summit I could only take 15 or 16 steps without catching my breath, and at the same time I began to faint, which forced me to sit down". Rare brochure published about a month after his ascent. Perret, 3913 - Regards sur les Alpes 24 - Meckly 168 - Waeber I, 176 - Nava C/3