The Internet is a treasure trove of early publications on the Uranie voyage but, like all good hidden treasures, there are many obstacles to their retrieval.
The most comprehensive eye-witness account published in the years immediately following the voyage was the multivolume epic authored by Louis de Freycinet under the title ‘Voyage autour du Monde’. Included under that title were two volumes by other authors, although the fact is almost concealed on the title pages. The Botanique was authored by Charles Gaudichad and the Zooloogie was authored jointly by Jean-René Quoy and Joseph-Paul Gaimard. Digital images of all the volumes can be found on the Internet, but quality is very variable, especially where the volumes of ‘planches’ (illustrations) are concerned, and not all volumes are easy to find. There are, moreover, some complications regarding the divisions of the some of the volumes and also of their dates of publication. Figure 1 illustrates the plan, but not the execution.
Figure 1: Example of the volume list that is included in the front matter of the early-published volumes of the ‘Voyage autour du Monde’. This particular example is from the Botanique, authored by Gaudichaud. It also appears in this form in both parts of Volume I of the Historique. Note that the Recherche sur les Langues was never published.
Figure 2: The volume index list from the Zoologie, authored by Quoy and Gaimard.
The largest and most important component of the ‘Voyage Autour du Monde’ was the ‘Historique’, which was apparently originally intended to be named the ‘Histoire du Voyage’. The listing shown in Figure 1 appears in the front matter to the two parts that make up its first volume, in the front matter to the first part of ‘Navigation and Hydrographie’ and also the front matter to the ‘Botanique’, and there is more wrong with it than one simple change of name. The ‘Recherches sur les Langues‘ never appeared at all, being still in preparation when de Freycinet died, the two ‘Observations’ half-volumes appeared as separate full volumes, the ‘Observations Magnétiques’ being published posthumously as Magnétisme Terrestre’, the ‘Météorologie’ was also published posthumously, in 1844, after editing by Louis’ nephew Louis-Réné and his niece’s husband, Felix Lamothe, and the ‘Hydrographie’ was enlarged and re-titled ‘Navigation and Hydrographie’, published under the one title in two parts, both dated 1826. The first part is especially useful because it includes noon-day positions for every day the ship was at sea, so the precise route taken can be reconstructed at that level of precision.
An early version of the publisher’s prospectus is bound together with one of the online versions of the Zoologie.
There are mismatches between the ‘volume’ labels and the physical books of the ‘Historique’ which resolve themselves as follows:
Volume 1 (Livres I and II)1825. DE FRANCE AU BRÉSIL INCLUSIVÉMENT
Begins on page v, with the Préface,
Continues on page xi with the names of the members of the état-major.
Continues on p. xiv with the report of the members of the Académie (ends on p.xi)
Continues on p. 1 with Chapter I of Livre I, Objet du Voyage – Préparatifs et Départ.
Continues on p.343, with Livre II, Chapter X, Traversée de Rio de Janeiro au Cap de Bonne-Ésperance: sejour dans cette colonie
Ends on p.721, Section X Gouvernement, of Chapter XVIII, Description de l’île Timor.
Followed by Index to Part 1 on p. 722 – 733
Followed by Errata on p. 734
Source: BNF Gallica
LIVRE II WAS ALSO PUBLISHED ON ITS OWN IN 1828
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Volume 2.1 (Livre III) 1829. DE TIMOR AUX MARIANNES INCLUSIVEMENT.
Begins on p.1, with Chapter XIX, Traversée de Timor à l’île Rawak
Ends on p.622 , Section X Industrie commerciale of Chapter XXVIII, Description sommaire des îles Sandwich.
Source: British Museum via Google
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Volume 2.2 (Livre IV) 1824. DE GUAM AUX SANDWICH INCLUSIVEMENT.
NO TITLE PAGE. ANNOTATED BY HAND IN PLACES. OVERLAPS WITH END OF VOLUME 2.1
Begins on p.517, with Chapter XIX of Livre IV, Traversée de Gôam aux iles Sandwich; sejour dans ces iles.
Continues on p. 623 with Chapter XXIX, of Livre V, Traversée de l’isle Wahou a Port- Jackson ; sejour dans cette colonie.
Ends on p.916 , Section II of Chapter XXXIV, Livre V. Digression sur les Nouveaux-Zelandais
Source: Societe geographique (?) de Lyon
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Volume 2.3 (Livre V & VI) 1839. Dated 1824 on pre-title page
Begins on p.917, with Chapter XXXV of Livre V, Industire
Continues on p. 1209 Livre VI (De port Jackson en France), with Chapter XLI Traversée de la Nouvelle-Hollande à la Terre de Feu; Mouillage à la Baie de Bon-Succès; Arrivée aux isles Malouines et Naufrage de l’Uranie dans la Baie Française.
Ends on p. 1385, Section II of Chapter XLIX, Livre VI. Traversée du Brésil en France; Arrivée au Havre-de-Grâce
Followed by Appendices on p. 1386 – 1417
Followed by Index to Part 2 on p. 1453 – 1470
Source: Bodleian Library via Googlebooks
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Atlas Historique
One volume 1825. General credit J. Arago and A. Pellion
Begins 0n p. 1 – 10, with Table explicative des Planches
Ends with Planche 106
Source: BnF Gallica
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The remaining volumes are less confusing, because only the Navigation and Hydrographie is in two parts, plus a volume of Plates or Planches. However, and to add slightly to the confusion, in the front of the Zoologie volume there is a listing of the proposed volumes which differs from the earlier version shown in Figure 1, by combining the pendulum and magnetic measurements into a single volume (which is not the way in which they were ultimately published), and in naming the never-to-be-published language volume as the ‘Recherche sur les langues des sauvages’.
Following the order in Figures 1 and 2 as far as possible, the remaining volumes are as follows
Zoologie
One volume 1824. Authored by MM. Quoy et Gaimard, médecins de l’expédition
Begins with Preface, three un-numbered pages.
Continues on p. 1 with Chapitre I, De l’Homme
Continues on p. 12 with Chapitre II, Considérations générals sur quelques Mammifères et Oiseaux
Continues on p. 51 with Chapitre III, Description des Mammifères
Ends on p. 376 , with description of the Aspisure Lamarche
Followed by Index to Part 2 on p. 1453 – 1470
Source: Darwin on-line via Internet Archive
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Zoologie planches
One volume 1824. No general credit of authors or artists.
Begins immediately with Planche 1
Ends with Planche 96
Followed by Index, 15 un-numbered page
Source: Biodiversity Heritage Library.
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Botanique
One volume 1826. Author M. Charles Gaudichaud, Pharmacien de la Marine
Continues on pp. v – vii with Preface by Charles Gaudichaud
Continues on p. 1 with Livre I, Observations générales sur la nature et l’ensemble de la Végétation de chacune des localités visitées dans le cours de l’expédition.
Continues on p. 3 with Chapitre I, Gibraltar
Ends on p. 514 with $ XVI, Piperaceae
Followed by Table des Matières on p. 515 – 522
Source: Bodleian via Google Books
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Botanique planches
One volume 1826. Handwritten credit Charles Gaudichaud
Begins immediately on p. 1 with Table Explicative
Continues on p. 22 + 2 with Planche 1
Ends with Planche 120
Source: Biodiversity Heritage Library.
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Observations du pendule
One volume 1826.
Begins with Preface by Louis de Freycinet, two un-numbered pages.
Continues on p. 1 with Livre I, Chapitre I, Mémoirs sur les observations du pendule
Continues on p. 17 with Livre II, Chapitre VIII, Elémens des observations et détail des calculs
Ends on p. 282 with Chapitre XXI, Calculs des erreurs de l’observation de nos quatres pendules réunis, sur la théorie.
Followed by pp. 283 – 290, with Table analytiques des Chapitres
Followed by two pages of Errata
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Magnétisme Terrestre
One volume 1842.
Begins with Preface by Louis de Freycinet, one un-numbered page.
Continues on pp. vii – viii with Table des Chapitres
Continues on p. 1 with Chapitre I: Considérations préliminaires sur les Instruments magnétiques de l’expédition
Ends on p. 342 with Chapitre X, Variations diurnes en déclinaison magnétique
Followed by map showing Atlantic route and magnetic equator
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Météorologie
One volume 1844. Edited by Louis-René Desaulces de Freycinet and Félix Lamothe
Begins with Preface by editors, one un-numbered page.
Continues on pp. i – xvi with Table des Matières
Continues on p. 1 with Livre I, Temperature
Continues on p. 215 with Livre II, Du Baromètre
Continues on p. 299 with Livre III, De l’Hygromètre
Continues on p. 427 with Livre IV, Des Vents
Ends on p. 666
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Navigation et Hydrologie
Part 1 (Livres I, II and III) 1826. Begins on page v, with the Préface.
Continues on page xi names of the members of the état-major.
Continues on p. xiv with the report of the members of the Académie (ends on p.xl)
Continues on p. 1 with Chapter I of Livre I, Objet du Voyage – Préparatifs et Départ.
Livre II, Descriptions Hydrographiques et Nautiques Chapter X, Traversée de Rio de Janeiro au Cap de Bonne-Ésperance{ sejour dans cette colonie
Livre III, Analyse des Cartes, begins on p. 305. With Chapitre XVII, Observations Astronomiques.
Ends on p.378, at end of Chapitre XX, Positions Géographiques des Principaux Points Déterminés pendant le Voyage
Source: Bibliothequecantonale et universitaie Lausanne, via Darwin Online via Internet Archive.
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Part 2 (Livres IV and II) 1826.
Begins with a new front page, although some digitisations have the two volumes together. This is the case with the link to Volume 1, above.
Continues on page 379, with ‘Observations des Marées’
Text ends on p. 722, Chapitre XXVI, ‘Résultats généraux des observations de marées faites pendant le voyage.
Followed by Index to both parts on p. 725 – 733
Followed by Errata on p. 734
Followed by illustration of Maréometre, p. 735 – 737
Followed by graphs of tides at Rio de Janeiro and Rawak, pp. 736 – 737
Source: Bibliothequecantonale et universitate Lausanne, via Googlebooks.
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Navigation et Hydrologie Planches
One volume 1826. Handwritten credit Charles Gaudichaud
Begins immediately on p. 1 with Table des Cartes et Plans
Continues with Plan 1
Ends with Plan 22
Source: Digital Library India (Note: The digitised original was in very poor condition)