Book cover of 'Nautical Works' by Jacques de Vaulx with a colorful illustration of a person at a table.

Jacques Devaulx. Nautical Works

£75.00

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£75.00

A fascinating insight into 16th-century seafaring and exploration, discover Devaulx’s sumptuous 1583 manuscript and encyclopedic reference for sailors. This edition reproduces the complete 31 folios in all their brilliant art and science, gathering color illuminations, observations, charts, and oceanic maps—a magnificent maritime showpiece.

Five hundred years after the historic French seaport of Le Havre was established, TASCHEN presents a facsimile reproduction of Les premières œuvres de Jacques Devaulx, pilote en la marine, first published by Le Havre-born “Naval Pilot to the King” Jacques Devaulx in 1583. This extraordinary illuminated manuscript, dedicated to the Duke of Joyeuse, collates nautical, astronomical, and cartographic ideas as well as Devaulx’s own extensive notes, observations, and records as a seafarer, hydrographer, cosmographer, and cartographer.

This edition of Devaulx’s stunning document, produced in collaboration with the Bibliothèque nationale de France, reproduces each of the 31 folios in all their brilliant art and science, including the original colorful illuminations, in particular the volvelles. The volume features essays by Jean-Yves Sarazin and Gerhard Holzer, as well as commentaries from a team of experts coordinated by Élisabeth Hébert and Véronique Hauguel-Thill, contextualizing Devaulx’s work with fascinating insights into 16th-century seafaring and exploration.

Gerhard Holzer studied history and geography at the University of Vienna and graduated with a thesis on the German-Austrian geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter. Since 1989, he has been curator of the Woldan Collection at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna and has published a number of papers on scientific history, in particular on the history of discovery and cartography.

Élisabeth Hébert is a mathematician and historian. She is the author of Instruments scientifiques à travers l’histoire (2004), a book about the usage of scientific, geometrical, and nautical instruments throughout the course of history; and Le Traité de Navigation de Jean-Baptiste Denoville (2008), an analysis and commentary of a reprint of Denoville’s nautical manuscript from 1760, which received a prize at the Nuit du Livre book awards in Paris, 2009. She is also President of the mathematical society Association Sciences en Seine et Patrimoine (ASSP) in Rouen and a retired Associate Professor of Mathematics at the IREM (Institut de Recherche sur l’Enseignement des Mathématiques) at the University of Rouen.

Jean-Yves Sarazin (1967–2016) was a curator and historian. After completing advanced studies in history, paleographic archiving, and library conservation, he managed the Directory of French Cartographers at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, responsible for the conservation and restoration of cartographic documents. From 2010 he worked as director of the Department of Maps and Plans at the BnF. He also dedicated his academic career to the history of legal documents, and is the author of the Bibliographie d’histoire du notariat français, 1200-1815 (2004). He passed away on September 4th, 2016, following a lengthy illness.
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ TASCHEN
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 13 Mar. 2025
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ Multilingual
  • Language ‏ : ‎ Multilingual
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 264 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 3836598701
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-3836598705
  • Item weight ‏ : ‎ 2.61 kg
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 26.16 x 3.56 x 36.58 cm

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Jacques Devaulx. Nautical Works
£75.00

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