First French edition of arguably the most influential buccaneering work, written by a buccaneer. Its detailed account of piracy in the West Indies is the most important primary source and "almost the only comprehensive source of information for pirate activities in the seventeenth century" (Howgego). It was first published in Dutch in 1678 as De Americaensche zee-roovers and was soon translated into French, German and English "There is certainly no other book of that time which experienced a popularity similar to that of the Bucaneers of America which was in the ten years following its publication translated into most of the European languages" (Sabin).
The first French edition was translated by Thomas de Frontignières, with the assistance of the experienced geographer, Abbé Baudrand, from the Spanish edition, Piratas de la America (Cologne, 1681). This Spanish edition was translated from the Dutch edition by the Amsterdam physician Alonso de Bonne-Maison. Although much of the text in the French edition remains close to the original Dutch edition of 1678, it is considerably longer. "Various new chapters have been added drawing attention to matters of interest for the natural historian." (Verwey, p. 121). The illustrations and maps for the French edition were newly engraved as well, and while the Dutch edition mainly shows the portraits and atrocious acts of the pirates, the plates of the French edition pay more attention to the geographical and natural historical aspects. The first French translation was also enlarged with an appendix containing the "Etablissement dune chambre des comptes dans les Indes", describing several authorities in the West Indies.
The work is divided into four parts, except the appendix, which is divided into three separate parts. These four parts tell about the French voyage to the West Indies in 1666, visiting the Caribbean, Panama and Venezuela, all depicted in the folding maps. Exquemelin describes the circumstances there and also the people and their habits. He also recounts the dreadful deeds of the Caribbean pirates, especially those of François lOlonnais and Henry Morgan, including the burning and looting of Panama City by Morgans unruly men. He based this story on his own journals and on the stories he heard in the West Indies. Histoire des avanturiers was the inspiration of many novels, imaginary voyages and must have inspired many young boys to turn pirate. This classic of buccaneering books is therefore a rich source of information on the voyages and the sometimes barbarous outrages of pirates in the seventeenth century.
The boards are somewhat rubbed, with the loss of portions of the top layer of the leather on the back of volume 1 and the front of volume 2, the joints are somewhat weakened, but the structural integrity of the bindings is still intact, the head and tails of the spines of ad 1 have been restored, the spines are creased, with small worm holes on the boards of both volumes, the foot endband on volume 1 is partly detached. The end leaves are foxed, the volumes are somewhat browned throughout, lacking the final blank leaf of volume 1. Otherwise in good condition. Alden-Landis IV, 686/55; Borba de Moraes I, p. 300; Palau 85742; Sabin 23475; USTC 6125493 (1 copy); cf. Cat NHSM, p. 877 (later ed.); Cox II, p. 207 (other eds.); H. de la Fontaine Verwey, "The ship's surgeon Exquemelin and his book on the buccaneers", in: Quaerendo IV (1974), pp. 109-131; Howgego, E39; Leclerc 199 (other ed.).