"There was green alligators and long-necked geese, Some humpty back camels and some chimpanzees, Some cats and rats and elephants,..." (The Irish Rovers)... to which could be added, an impressive variety of "phoques", or seals, inhabiting the northern and southern coastlines depicted in this charming zoological atlas. The five maps of the world's continents display very little in the way of topographical information, but on each is meticulously noted the presence of the birds and animals that are native to any particular area.

Unexpectedly, and marvellously, Jauffret has singled out the Sahara desert, presumably to prove that it is anything but deserted, with its own pictorial map depicting nearly 60 animals and birds that inhabit the previously presumed to be desolate region.

Louis-Francois Jauffret (1770-1850) was the founder and perpetual secretary of the short-lived Societe Observateurs de l'Homme, one of the many new scientific organisations that sprang up in first flush of Napoleon Bonaparte's young republic. Jauffret, and his fellow "observateurs" showed a great interest in educating children in natural history and geography, a determination which this work beautifully exemplifies. One of Jauffret's most practical achievements was to organise a series of nature walks in the countryside for young people, with the purpose of promulgating the notion that happiness stems from the contemplation oneself and nature. Another, better-known, outcome of the 'Societe' was its presentation to the First Consul of the Republic, a plan of for an ethnographic component to the proposed voyage to the southwest coast of New Holland, led by Nicolas Thomas Baudin. In line with the times, only the northern half of Australia features on the Asian continetal map, and with fewer animal inhabitants than the Sahara: "kangaroo vert" [can it be true, a green kangaroo?], a "phalanger volant" [sugar glider], and a "dasyure" [i.e. a marsupial].

Jauffret was instrumental in providing the expedition with a guide to anthropological activities for the expedition. "Although the expedition largely failed in its geographical and political purposes, its scientific accomplishments were considerable. However, its important anthropolgical collections did not survive intact. A large portion of these had been intended for the proposed museum of the Societe. But when the expedition returned, the Societe was dead or dying, and these materials, along with others which had been expressly collected for her, became part of the collection of the Empress Josephine. Partially destroyed in 1814, the collection was sold and dispersed in 1829" (Stocking).

Rarity: OCLC records only a handful of examples worldwide; only one other example has appeared in available commercial records, in the last 15 years.