DSRB Auction 12, Lot 31

31. DUHAUT-CILLY, A[uguste Bernard] (1790-1849). Voyage autour du monde, principalement à la Californie et aux Iles Sandwich, pendant les années 1826, 1827, 1828, et 1829. Paris: Arthus Bertrand, 1834-1835. [14] 409 [1, blank] [2, errata, verso blank]; [4] 438 [2, errata, verso blank] pp., 4 lithographic views after the author-artist’s original artwork, printed on India paper and mounted (as issued), 1 folding table. 2 vols. in one, thick 8vo, contemporary smooth tan calf over marbled boards, gilt-lettered red and black spine labels, spine with raised bands. Corners bumped (with a bit of board showing), upper joint cracked, intermittent mild foxing to interior, generally a very fine to fine copy of a genuinely rare book. Preserved in chemise and red morocco and red cloth slipcase. From John Howell–Books with Warren Howell’s pencil notation of cost code on slipcase and typed description by Richard Reed laid in.
First edition of “the first foreign account of Spanish California, by a literate and observant French trader who visited most of the missions, presidios, and pueblos of Upper California, and wrote the best contemporary account of the region” (Streeter Sale 2472). Cowan I, pp. 74, 267: “The French edition, which is superior, was published in 1834-5 at Paris.” Cowan II, p. 186. Forbes, Hawaiian National Bibliography 882: “There is some disagreement among cataloguers as to the correct form of the author’s surname. Originally the family name appeared as Bernard du Haut-Cilly, but as August Fruge and Neal Harlow state, ‘at some time the old patronyme of Bernard...seems to have been de-emphasized and the noble particle incorporated with the rest of the name, which thus became Duhaut-Cilly.’ Certainly the captain himself chose that form to appear on the title page of his work.” Hill, pp. 23-24: “The ship Héros also visited Valparaiso, the Galápagos Islands, Hawaii, Macao, and Java.” Howell 50, California 64. Howes D547. Huntington Library, Zamorano 80...Exhibition of Famous and Notorious California Classics 31. LC, California Centennial 18, 40. Libros Californianos (Wagner list), p. 25 & p. 33 (cited as one of the more valuable works on California by Bancroft’s chief assistant, Henry L. Oak). Streeter Sale 2472. Van Nostrand & Coulter, California Pictorial, pp. 28-29 (illustrating plate of Fort Ross): “Contains a detailed description of the fort, and a sketch—the best of the early illustrations.” Zamorano 80 #31 (Phil Townsend Hanna): “Duhaut-Cilly, a French trader...traversed the coast of California, visiting virtually all the missions, presidios, and pueblos, and many of the ranchos.... Duhaut-Cilly recorded his California observations interestingly, accurately and intelligently.”
The superb lithographs (Vue de Monterey, dans la haute Californie, pris de la rade; Vue de la mission de san-Luis-Rey en Californie; Vue de l’etablissement russe de la Bodega, à la Côte de la Nouvelle Albion en 1828; and Vue du port de la vallée d’Anaroura dans l’île de Waho [sic]) were executed in an unusual form of lithography. They were printed on very thin, high-quality India proof paper, which results in an exquisite image—sharper and with more depth than on ordinary paper. Because the technique is extremely time-consuming, expensive, and challenging, lithographs were seldom printed in this fashion. Charles Joseph Hullmandel (1789-1850), pioneer in lithography, initiated the use of India proof plates in lithography. William Blake and George Cruikshank used the technique to good effect. Americana collectors and specialists will recall the beautiful quality of the India proof editions of Muir’s Picturesque California (1888-1891), Captain Lyon’s Sketch Book (1827), and Lenoir’s Antiquitiés Mexicaines (1833-1834). ($10,000-20,000)

31A. DUHAUT-CILLY, Auguste [Bernard]. Viaggio intorno al globo principalmente alla California ed alle isole Sandwich negli anni 1826, 1827, 1828 e 1829...con l’aggiunta delle osservazioni sugli abitanti di quei paesi di Paolo Emilio Botta Traduzione dal francese nell’italiano di Carlo Botta. Turin: Stabilimento Tipografico Fontana, 1841. xvi, 296 + 392 [2, errata] pp., 4 engraved plates. 2 vols., 8vo, original printed wrappers with typographic ornamental border. Wrappers slightly soiled, otherwise very fine.
First edition in Italian, with Paolo Emilio Botta’s observations that did not appear in the original edition. Cowan I, p. 74: “Of the contemporary accounts of California this is the most extensive.” Cowan II, p. 186. Forbes, Hawaiian National Bibliography 1260: “This is an important edition of the Duhaut-Cilly narrative.... It includes for the first time, in book form, an essay by Dr. Paolo Emilio Botta, ‘Osservazioni sugli abitanti dell isole Sandwich e della California’ (Observations on the inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands and California). His Hawaiian observations are on pages 339-365, followed by an Italian-Hawaiian vocabulary (pp. 360-365), and a list of Hawaiian numerals on page 366. Botta’s observations on California (also new to this edition) are on pages 367-389. Dr. Botta’s essay was first published in Annales des Voyages, (Paris, 1831).” Hill, p. 24. Howell 50, California 65. Norris 1014: “The Italian edition has two extra plates...Monterey and...Bodega Bay.” (2 vols.) ($750-1,500)

31B. DUHAUT-CILLY, A[uguste Bernard]. Voyage autour du monde, principalement à la Californie et aux Iles Sandwich, pendant les années 1826, 1827, 1828, et 1829 [caption title: Duhaut-Cilly’s Account of California in the Years 1827-28 Translated from the French by Charles Franklin Carter]. San Francisco: California Historical Society Quarterly, 1929. [2, facsimile of original title page] 131-336 pp. (complete). Large 8vo, modern half crimson morocco over red cloth, spine gilt-lettered and with raised bands. Joints slightly rubbed, else fine. With John Howell–Books cost code penciled by Warren R. Howell at back.
First edition in English, offprint containing selections from the California portion of the circumnavigation. ($30-60)

31C. DUHAUT-CILLY, Auguste [Bernard]. A Voyage to California, the Sandwich Islands, and around the World in the Years 1826-1829. Translated and Edited by August Frugé and Neal Harlow. San Francisco: [Patrick Reagh for] The Book Club of California, 1997. xxix [1] 252 [3] pp., frontispiece portrait tipped in, text illustrations (some full-page; views, portraits, facsimiles, maps). 4to, original red cloth over patterned boards, printed paper spine label. New as issued. Prospectus laid in.
Limited edition (350 copies), containing an English translation of the California and Sandwich Islands portions of the voyage, handsomely designed and printed by master printer Patrick Reagh. ($300-600)

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After three centuries of Spanish colonialism, Mexican independence in 1821 opened the country to friendly foreign visitors. Devastated after a decade of warfare, Mexico desperately needed to establish foreign trade to raise income for the new nation. The creation of the Mexican Republic in 1824 led to the negotiation in London of high-interest bonds to be paid from customs revenue to finance the new government, and extensive trade and mining concessions were granted to English entrepreneurs. Not to be outdone, France entered the Mexican commercial sphere in principal cities such as Veracruz, Puebla, and Mexico City, as well as through coastal maritime trading.
          Contemporary with the English voyages of Lieutenant R. W. H. Hardy to the Gulf of California and Commander Frederick William Beechey to the Pacific Northwest, Auguste Bernard Duhaut-Cilly, commanding the Héros, with Dr. Paolo Emilio Botta, archaeologist and observer, as ship’s physician, departed Le Havre in April 1826 on a trading voyage to the Pacific Coast of Mexico. Following a stop at Río de Janeiro, Héros rounded Cape Horn and reached Valparaiso in August. Proceeding northward, Duhaut-Cilly visited the Galápagos, arrived at Cabo San Lucas in October, and, after a month’s sojourn visiting the interior, continued his voyage to Mazatlán where he remained for over three weeks. Sailing for San Francisco, via Cabo San Lucas, Héros reached the great bay on January 26, 1827.
          Well-received by presidio commandant Ignacio Martínez, Duhaut-Cilly, Botta, and the crew initiated a visit in the area before sailing for Monterey on February 7. Welcomed in the capital by commandant Miguel González, Duhaut-Cilly visited San Carlos Borromeo and the surrounding countryside, continuing to Santa Bárbara on March 27, reaching the mission and presidio three days later where he was received by José María Echeandía. On April 8, Héros sailed for San Pedro and San Diego and, after three weeks, continued to Cabo San Lucas and Mazatlán. After active commerce, a return to the north was commenced on May 11 via Cabo San Lucas to San Diego, with Duhaut-Cilly anchoring on April 10. After a visit to San Luis Rey, he left again for San Francisco, arriving on July 17. Overland trips to Santa Clara, San Rafael, and San Francisco Solano de Sonoma were carried out in the latter part of the month and into August, and on the 20^th of that month, Héros again sailed for San Pedro via Santa Bárbara.
          On September 21, Duhaut-Cilly reached the port for Los Angeles and proceeded to visit the pueblo, mission San Gabriel, and surrounding ranches. On October 20 he again raised anchor, to sail to Peru, where he remained until February 28, 1828, when, yet again, he sailed northward for California, anchoring in Monterey on May 3. Until August 27, Duhaut-Cilly visited Fort Ross and northern California before departing for Oahu, where he anchored on September 13 and remained for two months. The return voyage was commenced on November 15 and, after visits to Macau and Java, Héros anchored in Le Havre on July 19, 1829.
          Unlike previous foreign voyages to the California coast, Duhaut-Cilly not only made several visits to each major port, but also made lengthy visits to the areas south of Monterey. His descriptions of the Real de San Antonio and San José del Cabo in Baja California, and of San Diego, San Luis Rey, Los Angeles, San Gabriel, Santa Bárbara, San José, Santa Clara, and other interior missions are unique. Duhaut-Cilly’s visit to Fort Ross was one of very few made by non-Russians after its founding in 1812, and the lithograph of the fort is among the earliest views of the establishment and was done in its prime. Duhaut-Cilly was an early observer of the process of mission secularization, which he strongly favored, his Catholicism notwithstanding, and he witnessed the sad and disturbing expulsion of Spanish Franciscan friars from the Californias in 1828.
          Duhaut-Cilly’s account is relatively little-known, but given the extraordinary amount of time the author spent in the region, it may well be the most extensive description of Alta California as of its date of publication. Subsequent Italian editions appeared in Turin in 1841 and Naples in 1842, and included an appendix of Botta’s observations and his Hawaiian vocabulary not published in the French edition. Selectively abridged English translations have appeared in the California Historical Society Quarterly 8 (1929) and in a fine-press edition in San Francisco, 1997, with the latter reissued in a general printing in Berkeley, 1999.

——W. Michael Mathes

Item 31. Superb lithographs of Mission San Luis Rey after original art work by Duhuat-Cilly, executed in an unusual form of lithography—printed on very thin, high-quality India proof paper, resulting in an exquisite image—sharper and with more depth than ordinary paper.

Lots 31, 31A, 31B & 31C