Father Labat’s journey to the West Indies
The rare first edition of Father Labat’s journey to the West Indies,
contemporary bound with the arms of the Duc de La Rochefoucauld.
LABAT, Jean-Baptiste. Nouveau Voyage aux Isles de l’Amérique, contenant l’Histoire Naturelle de ces Pays, l’origine, les mœurs, la religion & le gouvernement des habitans anciens et modernes. Les guerres & les événements singuliers qui y sont arrivez pendant le long séjour que l’auteur y a fait.
Paris, 1722.
6 volumes 12mo [169 x 100 mm] bound in contemporary brown calf, arms gilt-stamped in the center of covers, spines ribbed and decorated, red morocco lettering-pieces, mottled edges. Some discreet restorations to the bindings.
The rare first edition of one of the most interesting works about the French West Indies.
It’s so rare that neither Brunet nor Leclerc knew this original edition.
Sabin 38409 ; Nissen ZBI 2330 ; Field, An essay towards an Indian Bibliography, 843 ; Leclerc, Bibliotheca americana, 1323 (pour l’édition de 1724) ; Sowerby, Jefferson Library, 4150.
Father Labat (1663-1738) leaves France to go to the West Indies in 1693 and he explores the whole archipelago: Martinique, Guadeloupe, Santo Domingo, Grenada, … He spent 10 years in Martinique, from 1694.
In 1722 Father Labat publishes this travel story in which he deals with the living conditions of the colonists and slaves, relates the historical events that he witnesses in the Caribbean, and describes the geography, fauna and flora of the West Indies. This text is of the utmost interest because it’s one of the earliest evidences about the beginning of colonization in the West Indies.
« The principal interest of these volumes is found in Chapters ii and iii of vol. II in which the author gives an account of the prominent characteristics of the Caribs, the last surviving remnant of whom on the island on Martinique he visited in 1694. The destruction of the race had proceeded so far at that time that he found only 47 persons alive. Since then the last of the tribes has disappeared » (Field).
The work is profusely illustrated with 102 copper engravings.
A fine copy of this rare work preserved in its contemporary uniform bindings with the arms of the Duc de La Rochefoucauld.
Price: € 15 000
