Saussure, Horace-Bénédict de.

First edition. 8vo. pp. 31, [1, blank]; engraved vignette to first leaf of text; fine, bound with three other works in contemporary calf-backed marbled boards, flat spine ruled in gilt, contrasting lettering piece (“Anecdot d’ Norely &c.”).

Meckly 168; Perret 3913; Classics in the Literature of Mountaineering 6; Nava C/3; Wäber p.176. Saussure's Relation abrégée... is one of the rarest and most important pieces of early mountaineering literature. Fascinated by the Alps and in particular by Mont Blanc, Saussure offered a prize to the first person to make the ascent. It was claimed by Jacques Balmat, who with M.G. Paccard in 1786 reached the summit of Mont Blanc. The following year Saussure himself made a successful attempt, only the third man to do so. His account of the ascent appears in the Relation abrégée... which, being the work of one well known to European society of the day, drew attention to the Alps and gave increased prestige to the sport of climbing. Arguably alpinism began in earnest with the publication of this work. The book is bound with three other, unrelated works: Anecdotes de la Vie d’Ambroise Borély (1788); Dissertation sue l’ancienne Inscription de la Maison-Carrée de Nismes (Nouvelle edition, 1786); and Considérations sur Les Moyens de procurer à la Ville de Nismes, une quantité d’eau nécessaire pour ses Fabriques, & autre usages essentiels, by Monsieur Delon (Nismes, 1787).