The History of the Conquest of Mexico by Cortez adorned with 14 plates,
bound at the time for Nicolas Roujault, President of the Parliament of Paris.
From the libraries Maynon de Farcheville with an armorial bookplate, and de Fourqueux.
Paris, 1730.
Cortez, Fernand. History of the conquest of Mexico, or the New Spain. Translated from the Spanish of Dom Antoine de Solis.
Paris, By the Company of Booksellers, 1730.
2 volumes in 2 in-12 : I/ (16) ff., 606 pp., (13) ff., 9 folding plates including 2 maps and 2 full-page plates; II/ (6) ff., 560 pp., (11) ff., 3 folding plates.
Full calf binding, gold-embossed armories at the center of the boards, richly decorated ribbed spines, red morocco title and volume labels, gold filets on edges, red edges. Armorial binding of the period.
165 x 95 mm.
Precious edition of the history of the conquest of Mexico by Fernand Cortez adorned with 2 folding maps and 12 engravings including 10 folding: “Map of Mexico, Gulf of Mexico, surrounding the lake of Mexico, view of the Rio de Canoas, the Island of Cuba at St Jacques port, Cortez’s ships on a beach, battle in the valley of Otumba, view of Mexico, etc.” Sabin 86478.
“The History of the West Indies is based on three great actions that can be compared to all the most outstanding those past centuries have produced. The first is the navigation of Christopher Columbus, & the discovery of the new world. The second, the conquest of New Spain, due to the prudence & valor of Fernand Cortez; and the third, the enterprise of Francis Pizarro, with the exploits of his successors who provided America South America to Spain.
Whatever connection these three actions have together, it is not easy to unite them under the same narration, due to the confusion arising from the multitude of events.
Dom Antoine de Solis intended to avoid this inconvenience, when he chose to write only the history of New Spain, for which he had amassed many accounts & memoirs, which he arranged in beautiful order, along with judicious moral & political reflections.
He also skillfully showcased Fernand Cortez’s actions. He starts with his birth, derived from Martin Cortez de Monroi, & Catherine Pizarro Altamirano, describes his youthful occupations, studies, travels, & early exploits in the Isle of Cuba. From there, he moves to Diego Velasquez’s selection of him to command the small fleet for the conquest of New Spain. He recounts his departure from the Isle of Cuba, & his arrival at the lands under the empire where Motezuma then reigned […]. Antoine de Solis judged it wise to end his history at the conquest of Mexico, for fear of tarnishing the glory of his Hero with the recital of cruelties he exercised there. But the Translator, not bound by the same considerations, described them briefly in his preface, & summarized the rest of this Conqueror’s life.” (Journal des Scavans, 1691, pp. 337-340).
This travel narrative is composed with the aid of numerous documents, letters from Fernand Cortez and works by Lopez de Gomara and Diaz del Castillo; it provides a detailed history of the relations between Fernand Cortez and Montezuma.
Very beautiful example bound with the arms of the Roujault family, gold with three red billets: on an azure chief, charged with three gold stars. Guigard attributes these arms to Vincent-Etienne-Nicolas Roujault, president of the Parliament of Paris.
From the libraries Maynon de Farcheville with armorial bookplate and de Fourqueux with bookplate.
