Amongst travel collections, Thevenot’s occupies a distinguished place, being one of the most complete and lavishly produced; its scope includes Africa, the Far East, South East Asia, America, amongst other places. The relation on Australia is certainly one of the most significant and primary sources of information on the Island.
The collection is also of great American interest; it contains Palafox’s study on the natives, Acarette du Biscay’s relation of La Plata and Gage’s relation, which includes an important passage on Mexico, and is profusely illustrated. Asia and Africa are also well represented here, with actually more than half of the first volume being dedicated to it. Possibly the most important relation is that of Abel Tasman. The illustration is composed of maps, views and plates; the maps includes East Africa, the Indies, China, Hindustan, the Tasman map of Australia in its second issue –with rhumb lines- and several others; the plates show costumes, plants, architecture and such.
The Tasman map is a cornerstone of Australian cartography, both as the earliest obtainable map of the region as well as the predominant depiction from which the World would know the Island for about a century. The importance of this map, thus, can hardly be overstated. An exceedingly difficult book to collate, “Bibliographers have expended great pains on the collation of the Thevenot collection” (Catalogue of the John Carter Brown Library, vol. III, 102); “Collection interessante, don’t il est difficile de trouver des exemplaires complets” (Brunet). Thevenot’s collection was published in parts and over roughly 10 years, thus almost no copy is alike another. The first part went to the printer in 1663, the second and third in 1666 and the fourth 1672, a fifth part was being prepared when death found Thevenot before completion. Sabin’s note is very enlightening regarding this issue “It will be understood from this that there really was only one edition of Thévenot, and as that edition was completed only in 1696, the issue bearing that year on its general title-page is ordinarily regarded as the standard for collation.”
This collection has been collated against Brunet, for it appears the most comprehensive bibliography: “The standard authority on the work as a whole is still the Mémoire sur la Collection des grands et petits Voyages, et sur la Collection des Voyages de Melchisedech Thevenot, by A G. Camus, Paris, 1802. Brunet gave a collation in which he added two pieces not recorded by Camus.” (JCBL).
First volume: [First part] title; 5 ff. + folding plate (pyramid) + xxv (verso of xxv with plate) [Description des pyramides d’ Egypte] + 1 plate; 52 [Relation des Cosaques et des Tartares & Relation de la Colchide] + folding plan; 25 [Informatinone della Giorgia]; 17-29 & 36-40 (several foliation errors, complete); 1-12 + folding map of Indoustan [Relation du Mogol]; 80 [Memoires de Th. Rhoe]; 30 (errors in foliation, pages 7 & 8 are replaced by a double page map of Indoustan, as explained by Brunet); 24 [1-9 a Greek extract of Cosmas’ voyage, 10 & 19-24 a description of the animals and plants of the Indies, badly foliated but complete, as explained by Brunet]; folding map (Vera delineation Civitatis Bassora) + 2 plates with inscriptions; 35 (with plate on verso of pp. 35)[Relation du royaume de Golconda et journal de Floris]; 55 (erros in foliation) [Voyage de Bontekoe] + large folding map of Hollandia Nova; [Second part] title (dated 1672) + 5 ff. 20 [Remontrance de Peisart] + 60 (errors in foliation) + 4 folding plates; folding map + 128 [Memoire du voyage aux Indes Orientales, par Beaulieu]; folding map of the Indies + folding plate + 40 [Relation des Isles Philippines];16 [Also on the Philippines]; 48 (pp. 45/46 replaced by a plate “Maniere de faire la justice au Japon, as noted by Brunet, complete); 4 [Decouverte de la decouverte de la terre d’ Eso]; missing the map of Pegu and Japan; 30 [Briefve relation de la Chine & Flora Sinensis, by Michel Boym] + 5 plates of plants (3 folding). Second volume: [Third Part] title (dated 1696); 5 ff.; 31-68 [Voyage des ambassadeurs de la Compagnie-Hollandoise] + 4 plates & folding map; 28 [Route des Hollandois a Peking, Brunet explains how the map to illustrate this part is bound in the preceding part, as in this copy]; 221 (numerous errors in foliation, but complete, Brunet mentions 216) & folding map of China; 12 [Rapport des directeurs de la Compagnie Hollandoise]; [Fourth part]title + 1 ff.; 14 [L’ Indien, Palafox]; 24 [Voyage dans la Riviere de la Plate]; 24 [Grueber, with Chinese alphabet, verso of pp. 23 a plate]; 23 [Grueber, same as before in French]; 24 [Sinarum Scientia politico-moralis], dated 1672]; 16 [Histoire de la Haute Ethiopie] + map and plate; 4 [Remarques sur la relation d’ Ethiopie]; 16 [Relation de Lobo de l’empire des Abyssins, with a plate bound along with the Ethiopia map]; 8 [Decouverte de quelques pays]; 4 [Relation du voyage du Sayd]; title [Histoire de L’ Empire Mexicain, dated 1696 and mentioning Moette, some copies, without date, mention Cramoisy, Palau never saw this variant] + 58 (46 plates); 40 [Relation du Mexique by Gage]. Here ends the Fourth Part. This copy contains several other relations, which are often lacking “On doit trouver, a la suite de cette 4 partie, les pieces suivantes, qui manquent en totalite ou en partie dans beaucoup d’ exemplaires” (Brunet): 4 [Voyage d’Abel Tasman]; 12 [Instruction sur les vents entre les Pays-Bas et l’ ile de Java]; 16 [Ambassade de S’chahrok]; 16 [L’ Asie de Barros]; 76 [Synopsis chronologique Monarchiae Sinicae]; 2 ff. [Relation des Chretiens de Saint-Jean]; 18 [Voyage de la Tercere de Chaste]; 34 (i.e. 32) [Elementa linguae Tartaricae]; includes the very rare fragments: the Spanish on the Salomon Islands pp. 5-16 and the Asganii Sassonii pp.17-48; as mentioned in Brunet (the complete relations were not included), who also says that fragments usually lack in their entirety.
Bibliotheca Lindesiana IV, 8830- 8840. Brunet, Manuel du Libraire et de L’ Amateur de Livres, V, pp. 810-13. Palau, 331563.
