[NEW GUINEA; NATURAL HISTORY] Essai sur la faune de l’ile de Woodlark ou Moiou.

Lyon : Imprimerie de F. Dumoulin, 1857. Octavo (235 x 160 mm), contemporary marbled papered boards (rubbed, corners bumped) with cloth spine (splits, small loss to cloth at head and tail); pp 226, [7] (index); hinges cracked, foxing to title page (also a small amount of silverfishing at top edge) and last few leaves, otherwise contents clean and sound; from The Papuan Collection of Charles Fletcher (Melbourne), and accompanied by his bookplate.

A scientifically rigorous taxonomic study by the French Marist missionary and naturalist Father Xavier Montrouzier (1820-1897) of the entomology (most notably beetles and butterflies), ichthyology, and mollusca of Woodlark, an island in the D’Entrecasteaux group lying off the southeastern tip of New Guinea.

A very early publication in the field of Melanesian natural history.

Scarce. Trove locates only 4 copies (National Library of Australia; State Library of New South Wales; University of Queensland Library; University of New South Wales Library).