Vocabulaire des termes de marine anglois et françois, en deux parties.

Imprimerie Royale, Paris, 1777

First edition of this marine-specific dictionary with English-French and French-English translations, as well as a detailed explanatory section with 31 plates engraved by Yves-Marie Le Gouaz (1742–1816) after drawings by Lescallier.

Description: 2 parts in 1 vol. Contemp. calf, 5 raised bands, red morocco label lettered in gilt to spine. Quarto: 26 × 20 cm; pp. xxii, [2], 88, 7, 287. With 31 engraved plates.

Ref.: BnF: cb308016250; Polak 5880

Condition: Covers rubbed and scuffed to corners, edges and spine ends, partly stained. Old library stamp and ownership inscription (illegible) on title page. Pages with slight marginal browning and with small dampstain throughout at upper margin.

Notes: Daniel Lescallier (1743–1822) was a French governor and maritime prefect. He was well acquainted with important political figures of his time, including Napoleon Bonaparte and Thomas Jefferson. Among his most important writings is undoubtedly the ‘Vocabulaire’. This work contains hundreds of terms relating to sailing, navigation, maritime law, ships and travel. The work was in such demand that it was also published in London in 1783 – despite the political tensions between revolutionary France and the Kingdom of Great Britain. However, not unsurprisingly, without the author’s consent.