Atlas Ethnographique du Globe, ou Classification des Peuples Anciens et Modernes d’apres Leurs Langues,

Paris: Chez Rey et Gravier, 1826.
First Edition.

49.5cm x 34.5cm. pp. [10], 41 tables (22 double-page), [10]. Contemporary marbled papered boards, modern cloth reback with leather label and gilt lettering, marbled endpapers. Text is in French.

One of the earliest works of comparative ethnography and global linguistic classification, classifying the peoples of the world by their language rather than the supposed anatomical distinctions of race. The 41 tables bring together some seven hundred vocabularies into large geographic schemes across the five parts of the world, including the languages of Australia and the Pacific. The classification draws on the voyage literature of Cook, Dampier, Baudin, Freycinet and Duperrey, supplemented by Balbi’s direct correspondence with the French navigators.

Boards rubbed. Small dampstain to fore-edge of preliminary pages and light to first few tables. Some foxing. Good Condition.

AU$800