The Lost Australia of Francois Peron.

London: Nottingham Court Press, 1984. Hardback octavo, dustjacket, very good condition (in very good dustjacket), frontispiece, maps, black & white photos & drawings, minor edgewear & edge tears jacket (laminate minimally lifted small area, minimal foxing reverse side), top edge lightly foxed, protected by removable semiarchival plastic sleeve. 179 pp. This is the first English-language book on the life Francois of Peron. He was born in Cerilly, France, in 1775. He was a soldier, explorer, physician, naturalist, scientist, marine biologist, anthropologist, oceanographer, conservationist and an ecologist. He joined the Nicolas Baudin expedition that charted significant stretches of the Australian coast between 1801 and 1803, He was largely responsible for gathering 100,000 zoological specimens, the largest Australian expeditionary natural history collection. His description of Aborigines was innovative and compassionate. Peron only lived 35 years but packed a lot of research and exploring into that time. The author, Colin Wallace, states ithat this book is the first in any language to evaluate the importance of his work and the first to draw extensively on a wide range of primary and secondary sources. A comprehensive reference section comprises primary sources (including all of Peron's published work), a secondary bibliography and chapter notes. The author wants to tell the Peron story to promote conservation of the natural environment, and to encourage people to understand ancient cultures. Some of the chapters are: Early Life -The Making of a Naturalist, A Creative Fusion - The Making of an Expedition, A Lost World - The Voyage of Discovery, A Mixed Reception - The Struggle for Recognition. The author is a Sydney surgeon concerned about the status of Aborigines, and he came across the little known Peron descriptions. (164 + 15 pages.).