Fascinating auction catalogue of the library of Jean-Nicolas Buache (1741-1825), hydrographer and geographer, and nephew of the cartographic publisher Philippe Buache.

The extensive sale consisted of nearly seven hundred lots, and took place between Wednesday 5th to Friday 13th July, 1826. Buache’s library ranged from religious works and jurisprudence to military history and fiction, although it’s principal focus was on hydrography and cartography, as one would expect.

The library includes all the most important geographic and maritime works published during Buache’s lifetime, such as Mannevillette’s ‘Neptune Oriental’, Herbert’s ‘Directory to the East Indies’, Arrowsmith’s chart of the Pacific Ocean, Cook’s Voyages, and Jeffery’s ‘North American Pilot’, to name but a few. Interestingly the library also included, Robert Dudley’s ‘Dell’ arcano del mare’, an incomplete Thevenot ‘Relations de divers voyage’ (nice to know things never change), a 1574 edition of Ortelius’ ‘Theatrum’, Popple’s map of North America, Turgot’s plan of Paris, Rocque’s 16-sheet plan of London, and a celestial atlas, and world map on eight sheets, by Ferdinand Verviest (lot. 262), which the catalogue states was printed and published in China. The last three lots contain extensive manuscript correspondence by Delisle, Jaillot, and Buache’s uncle Philippe.