Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas | Description des Indes Occidentales, Amsterdam, 1622, later calf

The Property of the Downside Abbey General Trust

Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas

Description des Indes Occidentales qu'on appelle aujourdhuy le nouveau monde... avec la navigation du vaillant Capitaine de Mer Jaques le Maire & de plusieurs autres. Amsterdam: Michiel Colijn, 1622

folio (282 x 182mm.), additional engraved title-page, woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces, engraved portrait of Jacob le Maire (portrait and preface bound at front instead of at p. 107), 17 folding engraved maps, engraved illustrations, speckled calf, maps slightly browned, a few small scrapes to binding

Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas (1549-1625) was appointed official historiographer of the New World in 1596, replacing Juan Lopez de Velasco. His previous histories had defended Philip II and the Catholic view of contemporary politics, and his description of the Spanish New World was no different.

The text was first published in 1601 and this French version printed in Amsterdam includes other similar narratives, including a description of Jacob le Maire's and Magellan's voyages. This compilation was also issued in Dutch and Latin simultaneously.

LITERATURE:

European Americana 622/67; STCN 081998856; USTC 1012891

PROVENANCE:

Simon Fraser, signature at head of title-page