Description et histoire naturelle du Groenland.

8vo: [4]-xxviii-[4]-171 pp. (browning throughout, some tears in the folds of the pl.).

Contemp. half calf, sp. paper on covers, spine with raised bands, sp. edges (corners and sides rubbed, restaurations to spine).

First French ed. of this description of Greenland by the Lutheran pastor Egede (1686-1758). Ill. with 11 fold. pl. showing animals (narwhals called "unicorns", seals called "sea dogs"), hunting scenes, the dwellings and customs of the Inuit (games, marriage) and a large map of Greenland. It was a personal decision for Egede to evangelize this region. Despite the difficulties, he managed to set foot there in 1721, 300 years after the last European-Inuit contacts. He launched Danish colonization, which led to a deadly smallpox epidemic for the Inuit a few years later. He founded the first town and baptized the first children in 1724. In 1738, the account of his evangelization was published in the journal of his mission and in 1741 he became the first bishop of Greenland.
Ref. Sabin 22027. - Nissen (ZBI) 1236.
Prov. Ms. entry on flyleaf.