François Jean de Beauvoir, Marquis de Chastellux. Voyages de M. le Marquis de Chastellux dans l'Amérique Septentrionale, dans les anées 1780, 1781 & 1782.
Tome Second. Paris: Prault, 1786. Octavo. Paper cover. Complete with title page, 362 uncut pages, map of Virginia and three illustrations showing the Natural Bridge. Deckle edges. Sabin: 12227.
During the American Revolution, Major General François Jean de Beauvoir, Marquis de Chastellux (1734-1788), was the liaison officer between General Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, commander of the French forces sent to aid the fledgling United States, and George Washington.
During his service Chastellux kept a journal, which he published in two volumes in 1786, and which was later published in translation as Travels in North America.
This second volume contains a fold-out map of Virginia and three fold-out perspectives of Virginia's Natural Bridge. Chastellux's descriptive text introduced the Natural Bridge to European readers and these views were the first published images of it.