Top of page

Book/Printed Material Memoirs and travels of Mauritius Augustus, count de Benyowsky ... consisting of his military operations in Poland, his exilie into Kamchatka, his escape and voyage from that peninsula through the northern Pacific ocean, touching at Japan and Formosa, to Canton in China, with an account of the French settlement he was appointed to form upon the island of Madagascar.

View 439 images in sequence.
[ Page view volume 1 ]

More Resources

View 389 images in sequence.
[ Page view volume 2 ]

About this Item

Title

  • Memoirs and travels of Mauritius Augustus, count de Benyowsky ... consisting of his military operations in Poland, his exilie into Kamchatka, his escape and voyage from that peninsula through the northern Pacific ocean, touching at Japan and Formosa, to Canton in China, with an account of the French settlement he was appointed to form upon the island of Madagascar.

Summary

  • Maurice Benyowsky (1741 or 1746-1786) was born near Trnava in present-day Slovakia, at the time part of Hungary and the Austrian Empire. After service in the Austrian Army, he joined a Polish nationalist movement fighting for freedom against Russia. He was arrested and exiled to Kamchatka in the Russian Far East. He escaped captivity and undertook an expedition to explore Kamchatka and the North Pacific. In 1772, he made his way to France, where he secured permission from King Louis XV to establish trading posts on Madagascar. In Paris, he became a close friend of Benjamin Franklin, with whom he founded an American-British company for trade with Madagascar. In addition to building roads and exploring the island, Benyowsky unified the tribes and was elected ampansacabé (emperor) by the local kings. He died as Emperor of Madagascar in 1786, in an armed clash with French authorities in a settlement called Mauretania. Benyowsky's two-volume Memoirs and Travels is a remarkable literary work that tells of his many adventures and almost unbelievable achievements, some of which were exaggerations and even inventions. Probably written between 1780 and 1784 and first published in 1790, over the next quarter of a century these memoirs appeared in at least 20 editions, in many languages. World Digital Library.

Names

  • Benyowsky, Maurice Auguste, comte de, 1746-1786.
  • Nicholson, William, 1753-1815, tr.
  • Pre-1801 Imprint Collection (Library of Congress)

Created / Published

  • Dublin, P. Wogan [etc.] 1790.

Headings

  • -  Exiles--Russia (Federation)--Siberia
  • -  Voyages and travels--Early works to 1800
  • -  Madagascar--History--To 1810
  • -  Siberia (Russia)--Description and travel

Notes

  • -  ESTC T100247
  • -  digital files not viewed; td12 2008-11-20

Medium

  • 2 v. 22 cm.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • DK754 .B47
  • DK754 .B47 Copy 2 Another copy.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 05014098

Online Format

  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress is not aware of any U.S. copyright or any other restrictions in the documents in this collection. However, some of the content may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) and/or by the copyright or neighboring-rights laws of other nations. Additionally, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by privacy and/or publicity rights. The determination of the status of an item ultimately rests with the person desiring to reproduce or use the item.

Transmission or reproduction of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners.

Credit Line: Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division

Availability of Reproductions

To inquire about copies of Rare Book and Special Collections Division items, contact the Photoduplication Service (telephone: 202-707-5640). Orders are accepted by mail and by fax.

The Photoduplication Service estimates that it takes 3-6 weeks to complete an order.

For Further Information

If you have comments or additional questions, please contact us.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Benyowsky, Maurice Auguste, Comte De, William Nicholson, and Pre-1801 Imprint Collection. Memoirs and travels of Mauritius Augustus, count de Benyowsky ... consisting of his military operations in Poland, his exilie into Kamchatka, his escape and voyage from that peninsula through the northern Pacific ocean, touching at Japan and Formosa, to Canton in China, with an account of the French settlement he was appointed to form upon the island of Madagascar. [Dublin, P. Wogan et, 1790] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/05014098/.

APA citation style:

Benyowsky, M. A., Nicholson, W. & Pre-1801 Imprint Collection. (1790) Memoirs and travels of Mauritius Augustus, count de Benyowsky ... consisting of his military operations in Poland, his exilie into Kamchatka, his escape and voyage from that peninsula through the northern Pacific ocean, touching at Japan and Formosa, to Canton in China, with an account of the French settlement he was appointed to form upon the island of Madagascar. [Dublin, P. Wogan et] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/05014098/.

MLA citation style:

Benyowsky, Maurice Auguste, Comte De, William Nicholson, and Pre-1801 Imprint Collection. Memoirs and travels of Mauritius Augustus, count de Benyowsky ... consisting of his military operations in Poland, his exilie into Kamchatka, his escape and voyage from that peninsula through the northern Pacific ocean, touching at Japan and Formosa, to Canton in China, with an account of the French settlement he was appointed to form upon the island of Madagascar. [Dublin, P. Wogan et, 1790] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/05014098/>.