Voyage au pays des Mormons; Relation - Géographies - Histoire Naturelle - Histoire - Théologie - Moeurs et Coutumes [A trip to the country of the Mormons] Remy, Jules LDS

2 volumes. 432, 544pp. Octavos [24.5 cm] 1/2 brown calf over brown marbled boards with gilt bands and titles on the backstrips. Complete with all ten plates and the folding map. The upper fore edge corners of the boards of volume two are both chipped with loss. Internally nice. Remy wrote thirteen letters that appeared in a French newspaper (Echo du Pacifique). Remy begins volume one with an 88 page introduction concerning the philosophy of religion, culminating national religious movements, and especially the Mormons. Remy and his companion Julius Lucius Brenchley traveled from San Francisco to Salt Lake City in the summer of 1855. Remy's narrative begins with nice descriptions of the flora, fauna, and peoples (including the Shoshones and Paiutes) of the Great Basin. After arriving in Salt Lake City 'The New Jerusalem" Remy stayed 31 days, he spent his time studying the history, religion, and customs, of the Mormons, the details of which occupy more than half of each volume locals. They returned to California on the southern route, through Santa Clara and along the Virgin River, and on to Las Vegas, before finally arriving in Los Angeles. Overall, a reliable report of the Mormons, written in a sympathetic manner, and one of the finest early travel narratives from the Interior West. "This book became one of the most consulted studies of Mormonism by Europeans who visited Utah or wrote about the Mormons during the next fifty years" - Michael Homer 'On the Way to somewhere else.' Flake/Draper 6866. Graff 3461. Howes R210. Sabin 69595. Wagner/Camp 364.