JACOB DE CORDEMOY Eugène Rapport de la Commission chargée d’étudier la catastrophe du Grand-Sable, à Salazie.

Ryckebusch, 4208.

First edition. Very rare brochure printed in Saint-Denis, Ile de La Réunion.

It is illustrated with a folding plan of the Grand Sable valley at the time of the commission’s visit, drawn by M. Déramond and lithographed by A. Roussin, as well as 3 original photographs on albumen paper mounted on leaves each with a separate sheet with caption, taken by A. Roussin from drawings by M. P. Cassien. They show : Vue du Piton du Grand-Sable; Lac formé après l’éboulis; Éboulis du Piton.

Eugène Jacob de Cordemoy (1835-1911), doctor and botanist, descended from a family that had settled in Réunion in the 18th century. His father, Philippe Antoine de Cordemoy, was Governor of Réunion from 3 November 1795 to 7 October 1803.

Salazie is a commune located in the Hauts de La Réunion region, to the north-east of the Piton des Neiges, in the natural cirque of the same name. On 26 November 1875, after several days of heavy rain, an entire section of the Gros Morne rampart collapsed, and around 20 million cubic metres of rock buried 17 houses in the village of Grand Sable, covering an area of around 22 hectares, killing 63 of the 65 inhabitants.

A good copy preserved in its original wrapper. The printed cover serves as the title.