Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
ROBERTSON, M. William. Histoire de l'Amérique. Tomes 1 et 2 (Sur 3). Chez Panckoucke, 1778.
Price: US$120.79 + shipping
Description: 2 vol. in-8 reliure de l'époque pleine basane marbrée, dos à 5 nerfs dorés orné, tranches marbrées, Chez Panckoucke [Panckouke], Paris, 1778, XXIV-407 pp. et 2 grandes cartes dépliantes (Carte du Golfe du Mexique, des Isles et des Pays Adjacens et Carte de l'Amérique méridionale) ; 572 pp. et 2 grandes cartes dépliantes (Carte du Mexique ou de la Nouvelle-Espagne et Carte des Pays situés sur la Mer du Sud depuis Panama jusqu'à Guayaquil) Incomplet (manque le tome 3). Les 2 premiers tomes (sur 3) de l'édition in-8 (à ne pas confondre avec les éditions in-12 ou in-4). Etat satisfaisant (rel. frottée avec 3 piqûres de vers en dos, coupes fort. frottées, des accrocs en coiffes, 3 petits accrocs habituels sans manque à 3 cartes dépliantes). Prix en l'état. Langue: Français
Seller: Librairie du Cardinal, GRADIGNAN, France
Price: US$721.50 + shipping
Description: 2 Volumes. 4to. pp. 2 p.l., xx, 540; 2 p.l., 553, [2]approbation. with half-titles. 5 folding engraved maps & plates. woodcut ornaments & title vignettes. Uncut in original wrs. (light dampstain to inner margin of first leaves of Vol. I, front wrs. detached, spines chipped). One of two editions published by Panckouke in 1778, apparently the first complete editions of this translation by Jean Baptiste Antoine Suard. Bell R323. Sabin 71991. JCB 2509.
Seller: D & E LAKE LTD. (ABAC/ILAB), Toronto, ON, Canada
Price: US$1900.00 + shipping
Description: 2 volumes, 4to (253 x 190 mm). [2] leaves, xx, 540; [1] leaf, 553, [2] pp. 4 folding engraved maps: of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, South America, Mexico, and present-day Panama, Colombia and Ecuador, all by Benard, and one fold-out engraved plate; woodcut head- and tail-pieces (A few quires darkened, occasional light spotting especially in vol. 2, otherwise a fine copy). Contemporary French cats-paw calf, spines gilt, red morocco gilt lettering-pieces, edges red-stained (joints and heads of spines worn). Provenance: armorial bookplate in vol. 2 of Madame du Bu de Longchamp (lost from vol. 1); from the library of Dr. Horacio Zorraquin Becu (1908-88), collector of South American travel literature. First edition of this French translation of Robertson's important history of the European conquest of the Americas. Robertson, historiographer to the Scottish Crown and principal of the University of Edinburgh, was one of the first to apply scientific exactitude to the study of archival sources on the Americas. First published in 1777, his History received universal praise for the meticulousness and thoroughness of his scholarship and the highly readable lucidity of his prose. The work furthermore holds a special place in historiography: Robertson's innovative application of generalizing principles to his descriptions of aboriginal societies has earned him recognition as "one of the earliest cultural anthropologists" (E. A. Hoebel, "William Robertson: an 18th Century Anthropologist-Historian," American Anthropologist, 62:648-655, 1960). The book's publication at the time of the American Revolution stimulated readers' interest, and numerous translations into the major European languages appeared in quick succession (a different French translation was published in 1777, in duodecimo format). Like all the early editions this one contains only books I-VIII; two more books, on the British colonies in North America, were published posthumously, in 1796. An extensive bibliography of printed and manuscript sources used for the work appears at the end of the second volume. AN ATTRACTIVE COPY. Sabin 71991. Catalogued by Kate Hunter
Seller: Arader Galleries - AraderNYC, New York, NY, U.S.A.