BERNARDIN DE SAINT PIERRE Henri Voyage à l’Isle de France, à l’Isle de Bourbon, au Cap de Bonne-Espérance, &c. avec des observations nouvelles sur les hommes.

Cohen, 934 ; Gay, 3264.

First edition. It is illustrated with 6 engraved plats including 3 after drawings by Moreau.

Bernardin de Saint-Pierre travelled to Mauritius as an engineer between 1768 and 1771. He had to convince the island’s governor that the primary forests and careful management of agricultural development were necessary to preserve the island’s rich soil and climate, and that the island could only develop sustainably if the environment was respected. In doing so, he founded one of the first nature conservation programmes (now known as ecosystem services). He tried in vain to seduce Françoise Robin, the young wife of Pierre Poivre, the first intendant of the islands of France and Bourbon. The account of his stay provides interesting observations on the geography, natural history and people of the island : “je croirai avoir été utile, si le faible tableau du sort des malheureux Noirs peut leur épargner un seul coup de fouet, et si les Européens qui crient en Europe contre la tyrannie & qui font de si beaux traités de morale, cessent d’être aux Indes des tyrans barbares” (avant-propos).

Good copy.