Sabin, 21458 ; Leclerc, Bibliotheca Americana, 1314 ; Picot, Catalogue Rothschild, 1984 (with detailed collation); Dampierre, pp. 97-128 (with detailed collation on p. 124-125) ; Gazin, p. 51; Boucher de la Richarderie, VI, 167.<\/i><\/p>\n
First complete edition of “one of the most valuable work we possess on the West Indies” (Sabin).<\/span><\/p>\n Copy complete with 2 engraved title-frontispices, 3 plates of coats of arms (1 for Harlay, and 2 for Bignon), 5 double-page maps and 18 plates (of which 7 double-page and 2 fold-outs; exceptionally the 2 botanical plates of volume 2 have remained together on a single sheet). In volume 4, the inscriptions on the plate \u201cCombat de Cayenne\u201d are reversed, whereas the drawing is not. This may be an early print of this plate, as the inscriptions were corrected in subsequent prints. <\/p>\n Du Tertre had first published a study in 1654, entitled Histoire g\u00e9n\u00e9rale des isles de Saint-Christophe et d’autre dans l’Am\u00e9rique<\/i>, (1 volume in-4to, Paris 1654), based on his manuscript written around 1650 which “was stolen from him and which his audacious thief had wanted to print under his own name. He does not say so, but he seems to imply that this plagiarist was none other than \u201cle sieur de Rochefort, ministre \u00e0 Rotterdam\u201d, and that it was only the publication that he succeeded in making in 1654 that delayed and thwarted the publication that Rochefort was preparing and only brought to light in 1658” (see Dampierre).<\/p>\n “Cet ouvrage est tr\u00e8s difficile \u00e0 rencontrer complet. Le P. Dutertre dit dans sa pr\u00e9face qu\u2019il avait fait imprimer son livre en 1654, parce qu\u2019on lui avait d\u00e9rob\u00e9 sa copie. Pendant qu\u2019il le faisait imprimer, le P\u00e8re R. Breton fut pri\u00e9, de la part de M. de Poincy, de donner son vocabulaire de la langue des sauvages, et quelques m\u00e9moires qu\u2019il avait compos\u00e9s, \u00e0 une personne inconnue, qui d\u00e9sirait \u00e9crire une histoire des Antilles. Il sut depuis que c\u2019\u00e9tait le sieur Rochefort, ministre de Rotterdam, qui, apr\u00e8s avoir re\u00e7u le vocabulaire du P. Breton, et inform\u00e9 de l\u2019impression de son ouvrage, fit para\u00eetre le sien en 1658, sous le titre de Histoire naturelle des Antilles de l\u2019Am\u00e9rique<\/i>\u2019.” (Leclerc).<\/p>\n “Du Tertre naquit \u00e0 Calais en 1610. Son go\u00fbt pour les voyages lui fit prendre passage \u00e0 bord d\u2019un navire hollandais avec lequel il fit plusieurs voyages en Am\u00e9rique ; plus tard, il servit dans l\u2019arm\u00e9e du prince d\u2019Orange, puis, abandonnant cette vie d\u2019aventures, il entra chez les fr\u00e8res pr\u00eacheurs. Ses sup\u00e9rieurs, profitant de son exp\u00e9rience, l\u2019envoy\u00e8rent aux Antilles, dont il entreprit d\u2019\u00e9crire l\u2019histoire. Son livre, fruit d\u2019observations personnelles, est l\u2019ouvrage le plus important qui ait \u00e9t\u00e9 publi\u00e9 sur ces \u00eeles. Les \u00e9crivains post\u00e9rieurs en ont attest\u00e9 la parfaite exactitude” (Picot).<\/p>\n Du Tertre spent eighteen years in the West Indies, from 1640 to 1658, during which time he collected a wealth of information on the natural history of these islands, the customs of their inhabitants and the establishment of the French colonies from 1625 to 1667.<\/p>\n “La partie historique de la relation du P. Du Tertre est d’une grande exactitude… En traitant les diff\u00e9rentes branches de l’histoire naturelle des Antilles avec une telle sagacit\u00e9 dans ses recherches, que tout ce qu’il en a \u00e9crit fait autorit\u00e9” (Boucher de la Richarderie).<\/p>\n The illustrations consist of an engraved title-frontispiece (repeated in volumes I and II), three leaves showing the arms of the Harlay (1) and Bignon (2) families, 5 double-page maps and 18 plates (7 double-page and 2 folding). a good copy of this fundamental work on the history of the West Indies.<\/p>\n Provenance: Mgr Pellot, First President of the Parliament of Normandy (contemporary engraved coat of arms on verso of titles of volumes II and III). Claude Pellot (1619-1683) began his career as provost of the merchants of Lyon (1632-1634) before becoming king’s adviser and treasurer of France in Lyon. He was then appointed Intendant of the Generalitat of Bordeaux (1663-1669) before becoming First President of the Parliament of Normandy from April 1670 until his death in 1683. Married twice, his second wife was Madeleine Colbert, cousin of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, whom he married in 1669.<\/p>\n Occasional marginal wormholes. A very good, complete, copy uniformly bound at the time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 4 parts in 3 volumes, 4to (233 x 186 mm) engraved title-frontispiece, engraved coat of arms of Harlay, 10 nn.ll. (title, preface, tables), 593 pp. (misnumbered 935), 1 nn.l. (errata), 3 engraved double-page maps for volume I; engraved title-frontispiece, 8 nn.ll. (title, preface, table, privilege), 539 pp., 14 plates (including 5 double page, 2 botanical plates printed on one double sheet) for volume II; 9 nn.ll. (half-title, title, engraved coat of arms of Bignon, preface, approbation, privilege, intriductin to the reader), 317 pp., 4 nn.ll. (table), 2 engraved double page maps for part III; 4 nn.ll. (title, engraved coat of arms of Bignon, preface), 362 pp., 7 nn.ll. (table, privilege), 4 plates (including 2 folding and 2 double page) for part IV. Contemporary mottled calf, spine gilt with raised bands, red speckeld edges (some expert restorations to spines and corners).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":89110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[552],"product_tag":[1363,1224,1450],"class_list":{"0":"post-89143","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-travel","7":"product_tag-caribbean","8":"product_tag-colony","9":"product_tag-first-edition","10":"pa_auteur-du-tertre-jean-baptiste-2","11":"pa_type-de-livre-printed-book","13":"first","14":"instock","15":"shipping-taxable","16":"purchasable","17":"product-type-simple"},"acf":{"artist":"Jean Baptiste DU TERTRE","chapeau":"","adresse_bibliographique":"Paris, Thomas Jolly, 1667-1671","book_type":"Printed book","provenance":"","afficher_prix":""},"yoast_head":"\n