SONNERAT (Pierre). Voyage aux Indes orientales et à la Chine, fait par ordre du Roi, depuis 1774 jusqu'en 1781. Paris, chez l'auteur, Froulé, Nyon, Barrois, 1782. 3 volumes in-8, porphyry calf, triple gilt fillet, smooth spine decorated, marbled edges (period binding). Second edition, published the same year as the original in-4. Copy containing 23 beautiful folding plates engraved by Poisson after the author and a map of Pondicherry (instead of the 7 plates generally found in the edition). In this work, renowned for its accuracy, the naturalist Pierre Sonnerat (1745-1814) offers the account of his second voyage to Asia, divided into five books, the first three of which are devoted exclusively to India, and in particular to Pondicherry, Surate and the coasts of Coromandel and Malabar, as well as to the customs, religions, sciences and arts of the Indians. The fourth book reports on voyages to China, Burma, Madagascar, Mauritius and Reunion, the Cape of Good Hope, the Maldives, Ceylon, Malacca, the Philippines and the Moluccas. The natural history of these regions is the subject of the fifth book. A very fine copy, with wide margins, in contemporary porphyry calf. From the library of the Prince de Beauvau-Craon at the château de Thoisy-la Berchère, with bookplate. Cordier, BS, 2102 - Chadenat, n°180.