Description
Journal de Madame Rose de Saulices de Freycinet [Journal du voyage autour du monde]. Paris: Société d'Éditions..., 1927. First edition, 4to, 25 plates (several coloured), original printed wrappers bound in, red gilt covers with ship and palm motif, rebacked, a little darkening, some rubbing to covers, spine faded, Cruising Association blind-stamps and gilt stamps to upper cover and spine; and 3 other travel works by various authors
Footnote
Provenance: From the library of the Cruising Association
Note: This is a narrative of a voyage told, unusually, from the point of view of a woman. Between 1817 and 1820, Rose de Freycinet and her husband, Louis de Freycinet, sailed around the world onboard the Uraine, a French military ship. Louis de Freycinet was charged with taking scientific measures and natural history specimens whilst onboard the ship. Unwilling to be separated from her husband, Rose disguised herself as a man and became a 'stowaway' as the journey commenced. The presence of women aboard naval vessles was illegal at the time, and when Rose was revealed soon after departure, there was uproar in French society. However, nothing could be done, as the ship was not due to arrive into its next port - Réunion, in the Indian Ocean - until 1818. Rose de Freycinet is marked out as one of the first women to write a journal of her voyage, although this was not published until 1927.