LAET, Johannes de (1593-1649). L'Histoire du nouveau monde ou description des Indes Occidentales. Leiden: Elzevir, 1640.
LAET, Johannes de (1593-1649). L'Histoire du nouveau monde ou description des Indes Occidentales. Leiden: Elzevir, 1640.
The first French edition, which “contains many materials not found in the original Dutch, chiefly vocabularies of Indian tribes” (Sabin). Streeter describes this work as "one of the most famous contemporary descriptions of the natural history of the New World.” Laet, a director of the Dutch West India Company, had access to the latest information from returning traders, which he used to continually update subsequent editions of his work. “Thus the most complete edition is this French translation of 1640” (Borba de Moraes). The maps by Hessel Gerritsz, the official East India Company mapmaker, were some of the most accurate of their era and had a major influence on later cartographers. Alden & Landis 640/111; Borba de Moraes I:451; Johnston Cleveland 196; Sabin 38558; Williams 497.
Folio (356 x 225mm). Title in red and black with woodcut vignette, 14 engraved folding maps, woodcuts throughout (light toning, occasional spots). Contemporary calf, edges red (rebacked). Provenance: Library of the Chateau de Serrant (stamps) – Louis Charles de La Trémoille (1838-1911, archivist and bibliophile, who inherited the Serrant library from his mother; bookplate).
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LAET, Johannes de (1593-1649). L'Histoire du nouveau monde ou description des Indes Occidentales. Leiden: Elzevir, 1640.
The first French edition, which “contains many materials not found in the original Dutch, chiefly vocabularies of Indian tribes” (Sabin). Streeter describes this work as "one of the most famous contemporary descriptions of the natural history of the New World.” Laet, a director of the Dutch West India Company, had access to the latest information from returning traders, which he used to continually update subsequent editions of his work. “Thus the most complete edition is this French translation of 1640” (Borba de Moraes). The maps by Hessel Gerritsz, the official East India Company mapmaker, were some of the most accurate of their era and had a major influence on later cartographers. Alden & Landis 640/111; Borba de Moraes I:451; Johnston Cleveland 196; Sabin 38558; Williams 497.
Folio (356 x 225mm). Title in red and black with woodcut vignette, 14 engraved folding maps, woodcuts throughout (light toning, occasional spots). Contemporary calf, edges red (rebacked). Provenance: Library of the Chateau de Serrant (stamps) – Louis Charles de La Trémoille (1838-1911, archivist and bibliophile, who inherited the Serrant library from his mother; bookplate).
Pre-Lot Text
PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR IN ARGENTINA
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