Rare first French edition of the earliest written eyewitness account of Japan, by the adventurer, pirate, missionary and mercenary who was among the first Europeans to visit that country. In 1537 Mendes Pinto (1509?-1583) began a 21-year odyssey to the East. Although his reliability has been questioned almost since the... More about Les Voyages Avantageux
The title in Asher’s English translation is: Considerations and reasons of the noble Directors of the Chartered West-India Company, delivered in the assembly of their High Might. the States General of these Free United Netherlands, on the present deliberations on a Truce with the King of Spain. With Conscientious Reflections..... More about Consideratien ende redenen der e. heeren bewind-hebberen vande geoctrojeerde West-Indische...
First collected edition of this landmark of discovery Americana, augmented with new material and, above all, the first appearance of Champlain’s seminal two-sheet map of the Great Lakes. This copy comes in the rare first issue of both text and map, in a splendid contemporary red morocco binding with the..... More about Les Voyages de la Nouvelle France occidentale, dicte Canada…depuis l’an 1603 iusques en...
Rare first French edition (original Spanish 1585) of Diego de Torres's history of north Africa, a detailed account of the on-going conflict between the Xarifes (the Saadian dynasty), the king of Fez, and the Turks, augmented with his own first-hand observations. Following the expulsion of the Moors from Europe... More about Relation de l'origine et succez des Cherifs et de l'Estat des Royaumes de Maroc, Fez, et Tarudant
First French edition of this first-hand account of 17th-century Vietnam (first Italian ed. 1650), which played an important role in fostering French interest in the region. Rhodes, who earned the favorable opinion of Louis XIV, is often heralded as the founder of Vietnamese Christianity, and remembered for his important dictionary... More about Relation des progrez de la foy au royaume de la cochinchine vers les derniers quartiers du levant
Rare first and only edition of two Jesuit letters from the province of Cochin-China, written in the years immediately following the expulsion of the Jesuit’s most powerful Southeast Asian operative, Alexander de Rhodes. Alexander Rhodes, ‘Apostle of Vietnam’ (Lach and Van Kley III: 1266) unfortunately attracted the enmity of the..... More about Relation des Progrez de la Foy au Royaume de la Cochinchine és années 1646. & 1647....
Stunning copy of this "important and influential history of the Ottoman Empire, based on an important collection of source material, which includes Leonard of Chios letter on the fall of Constantinople, Spandugino's account of Ottoman life and manners, and the accounts of Giovio, Menavino, Barletius and others.- Atabey 1088 The... More about Historia Universale dell'Origine Guerre, et Imperio de Turchi con le vite de tutti gl'imperatori...
First edition in English, first issue, of the most famous biography in the Portuguese language. D. João de Castro (b. 1500, Lisbon) was a sailor, soldier, scientist and cartographer. At an early age he became a brilliant humanist, studying mathematics under Pedro Núñez. After fighting at Tangiers and Tunis, he..... More about The Life of Dom John de Castro, the Fourth Vice-Roy of India ... Containing also a particular...
The very rare third, enlarged, and best edition of Bartoli's L'Asia descritta. This work was intended to cover the Jesuit experience in the Far East, including Japan and China since the Order's first arrival there in the mid-sixteenth century. The volume on China appeared just before Kircher's China illustrata, and... More about Dell Istoria della Compagnia di Giesu. L'Asia descritta dal P. Daniello Bartoli della medesima...
First edition of a rare and fundamental handbook for seventeenth-century missionaries to Indochina. The volume is a formative document by François Pallu (d. 1684) and Pierre Lambert de la Motte (d. 1679), founding members of the Société des Missions Étrangères de Paris and driving forces behind the establishment in 1665..... More about Instructiones ad munera apostolica rite obeunda perutiles: missionibus Chinae, Tunchini,...
Scarce second, much augmented edition (first 1664) of this early tract on New York. The author answers the charge by the Dutch of instigating war with England, as a result of which New Amsterdam was retained by the latter. The original edition was a pamphlet of 21 pages; the present... More about A Discourse written by Sir George Downing, The King of Great Britain's Envoy Extraordinary to the...
Scarce first French edition (expanded from the 1673 English original) of an early illustrated British travelogue to southeastern Europe and Greece. "This account is full of acute observations and judgments; of particular importance is the information he provides on mines and mining techniques" (Leonora Navari, Blackmer Catalogue 43). Embarking on... More about Relation de plusieurs Voyages faits en Hongrie, Servie, Bulgarie, Macedoine, Thesalie, Austriche,...
Rare first edition of this account of the state of Christianity in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam by rivals of the Jesuits. The Soci' des Missions Etrang's, a new apostolic missionary group established in Paris in 1660, was as a society of secular priests who devoted their lives to foreign missions but... More about Relation des Missions des Evesques Fran's aux Royaumes de Siam, de la Cochinchine, de Camboye,...
Extremely rare first edition of this ephemeral pamphlet documenting the royal audience of the Siamese embassy to France in 1686/7. The arrival of three Siamese ambassadors in northern France in the summer of 1686 caused a great deal of consternation in the popular sphere: illustrations of the embassy were frequently... More about Harangue faite a Sa Majesté par les Ambassadeurs du Roy de Siam Le Mardi 14. Janvier 1687, à...
Rare first edition of an account of an early trip to Quebec by Saint Vallier, the second Bishop of the Province and immediate successor to Laval. Saint-Vallier visited the country in 1685—three years before his consecration as Bishop—in order to examine the state of the diocese. Lasting eighteen months, his..... More about Estat present de l’eglise et de la colonie fracoise dans La Nouvelle France. Lettre de M....
First Dutch edition of the “first and most important” of Hennepin’s writings (Howes), translated from the 1683 French original, Description de la Louisiane, and here augmented by Denys’ description of New France, BOTH ILLUSTRATED WITH NEW PLATES. This, Hennepin’s first published work, is notable for being the earliest printed account..... More about Beschryving van Louisania, Nieuwelijks ontdekt ten Zuid-Westen van Nieuw-Vrankryk, door order van...
Extremely rare first edition of this account of Athens by the Italian adventurer Cornelio Magni, one of very few accounts of that city to appear in the early modern era and one of even fewer to give accurate, up to date eyewitness illustrations of its monuments. “After the fall of..... More about Relazione della città d'Athene, colle provincie dell'Attica, Focia, Beozia, e Negroponte,...
Rare early edition of this popular late 17th- and 18th-century tourist guide to Naples, recognized as such by Schlosser et al. Although there were guides to Naples and its environs prior to Sarnelli, the number was modest and—in contrast to cities such as Rome—there was no canonical plan or order..... More about La vera Guida Forestieri
![Stelleri Zodiacus Stellatus [manuscript title on spine]. John / SENEX SELLER, John, Edmund /...](/pictures/thumb/5560.jpg?v=1508791178)
An intriguing collection of 8 very rare early English astronomical charts by the London cartographers and instrument makers John Seller (c. 1630-1697) and John Senex (c. 1678-1740), offering the most up-to-date celestial information then available, with several of the charts based on the recent groundbreaking observations of the English astronomers... More about Stelleri Zodiacus Stellatus [manuscript title on spine
Unpublished autograph manuscript by the French nobleman and traveller Louis de Chancel de Lagrange (1678-1747) documenting his extraordinary world travels between 1692 and 1704. Lagrange provides an eyewitness account of the groundbreaking 1698-1700 trading expedition to Canton made by the frigate L’Amphitrite, considered the “the first voyage of the French..... More about Le premier volume des voyages curieux faits dans diverses provinces, de France, dEspagne, de...
First edition, second state, of this rare work on growing, curing, packaging and selling tobacco, written for the benefit of farmers in the Papal States who had two years earlier been given permission to cultivate it. Much of the information is based on methods of tobacco cultivation in Maryland and... More about Storia distinta e curiosa del tabacco; concernente la sua scoperta, la introduzione in Europa, e...
Rare, separately issued plan of Quebec City, here in fine original hand color, published in London in 1759 by the prominent architect Edward Oakley (fl. 1730-66), an intriguing figure whose varied practical and theoretical roles in the London architectural world provide a glimpse into the diversity of professional building practice... More about A Plan of Quebec
Rare first edition of the funeral-book of Maria Barbara of Portugal, Queen-consort of Spain and wife of Ferdinand VI, with a large folding plate of her catafalque. As with many books of exequies for European monarchs printed in America, the volume appeared over a year after the Queen’s death in..... More about Relacion Funebre de las Reales Exequias …de la Serenissima Magestad…La Señora Doña Maria...
First enlarged edition of an illustrated merchant’s guide to the duties and tariffs levied by the Spanish crown on exports from the Americas, chiefly gold and silver, but also concerning timber, textiles, furs, coffee, spices and foodstuffs. After first offering a general overview of Spanish colonial commerce with Western Europe..... More about Compendio General de las Contribuciones y Gastos que ocasionam todos los Efectos, Frutos,...
Scare first edition of this document relating to the British occupation of Manila during the Anglo-Spanish War of 1762-3, and an interesting case of international law. In September of 1762, under the command of Draper and Cornish, a British fleet of 13 ships containing over 6000 men attacked Manila and... More about Draper's answer to the Spanish Arguments, claiming the Galeon, and refusing payment of the ransom...