Ulloa Antoio (1 results)

Hardcover. 1st Edition. 4to, 25.5cm, first French edition, in 2 volumes, [xx],554 & 309,[iii]pp., with 2 engraved frontis plates & 54 mainly folding engraved maps, plans and views (on 53 sheets), attractive illustrated ornamental title page, header & initial vignettes, bound in quarter brown calf, gilt ruled raised bands, gilt roll border decoration and the top and bottom of the panels, crushed dark brown morocco labels, gilt spine titles, marbled boards, all edges gilt, some slight occasional foxing or transfer, a fine attractive set (tr/hm). ~ The record of an important joint French and Spanish scientific expedition to South America undertaken in 1735. The purpose of the expedition was to measure one degree of latitude in the equinoctial regions of Peru in order to determine the exact size and shape of the earth. Spanish scientists and naval officers, Juan and Ulloa (who later became the first Spanish governor of Louisiana), were selected by Philip V to accompany the French academicians La Condamine, Bouguer, Godin and Joseph de Jussieu. The successful and historic measurement, carried out in the region of Quito and Guayaquil, took almost a decade to accomplish, and confirmed the Newtonian theory of the shape of the earth. At the same time, complementary scientific observations were made relating to the speed of sound, and various aspects of geology, physics, geography, natural history and astronomy. Those sections of the report devoted to geological investigation include the first scientific description of platinum, discovered in Columbia in 1736. The plates include plans and charts of Porto Bello, Cargagena, Quito, Lima, Valparaiso, and other South American cities along the west coast, and illustrations of native dress. In Volume II (Chapter VIII), pp. 139 151, is an account of the 1745 siege of Louisbourg, which the expedition visited soon after the event on its return trip to Europe, as well as a chapter (X) on Newfoundland and the fisheries. The work is not, however, listed in any Canadian bibliographies. Also included here is a French translation of a work by Garcilasso de la Vega, Abr g Historique de l'origine et de la Succession des Yncas, et Autres Souverains du P rou.