Paris, Thomas Jolly, 1667-1671.
4 parts bound in 3 volumes 4to [222 x 178 mm], I/ 1 frontispiece, (11) ff., 593 pp., (3) pp.; II/ (8) ff., 539 pp., 5 folding maps, 14 plates; III/ (9) ff., 317 pp., (9) pp., (4) ff., 362 pp., (7) ff., 4 folding plates. Small hole in p. 122 of part 3. Bound in contemporary stiff vellum, edges mottled.
First complete edition of « one of the most valuable work we possess on the West Indies ». (Sabin 21458). Streit, Bibliotheca Missionum, 2001; Leclerc, Bibliotheca Americana, 1314; Picot, Catalogue Rothschild, 1984.
It is very difficult to find a complete copy of this work.
« The two last volumes of this work (one of the most valuable we possess on the West Indies) were published in 1671 and are extremely scarce; complete sets are difficult to be met with, and bear a high price » Rich.
Du Tertre was born in Calais in 1610. He took holy orders and his superiors sent him to the West Indies where he spent 18 years, from 1640 to 1658. He came up with plenty of information about the natural history of these islands and the customs of the inhabitants.
The illustration consists of an engraved frontispiece, 5 folding maps and 18 plates, of which 9 are folded.
A precious copy of this fundamental work for the history of the West Indies, uniformly bound at the time in full stiff vellum.
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