Esquisses de l'Ile de Java
et de ses divers habitants, recueillies pendant un sejour de huit annees fait dans cette ile. Traduit de l'Allemand par Girodz du Villard, revu et mis en ordre par G. Guenot Lecointe. Brussels Société Belge du Libraire. 1837
First edition in French, pp.xv, 239. An attractive copy bound in contemporary red quarter morocco, spine a little rubbed.
The first French translation of the author's "Skizzen von der Insel Java", a general sketch of Java on the geography, history, customs, and governance of the island, and describing the customs and attitudes of Europeans living on the island, but without the superb plates of the original edition. Includes a vocabulary of the Malay language. Josef Jakob Xaver Pfyffer zu Neueck (1798-1853) was a Swiss civil servant, politician and author. His sketches of the island of Java and its various inhabitants from 1829 was considered one of the most important works of the time on the cultural history of Java due to their precise observation and clear representation of the country.