Americana

Splendid copy in vibrant contemporary hand-coloring of the first English edition of the most famous work on Dutch Surinam

The preferred edition, illustrated with plates by William Blake, with all the plates in exceptional contemporary hand color and occasionally heightened with gold, a large-paper copy of the first English edition of Stedman’s account of the events occurred in Surinam, providing an often visually-striking representation of the beauty of the region and horrors of slavery.

The first book on American drinks

First edition, an extremely tall and clean copy of this famed work, “The first book on American beverages” (Nebenzahl); chocolate was one of America’s greatest and more profusely spread contributions to the old world upon the discovery, its nature is subject to several treatises, this being one of the first and among the best. The appearance of the treatise, printed by a woman, is not coincidental, even though it was known from the 16th century, the 17th century was the presentation of the grain in Europe. Subsequently, societies began to succumb to its taste.

The best history on the Abipones, later used by Southey for his Tale of Paraguay, discussing their language, costumes, and natural history, with the most accurate map of the region at that date

First edition; extremely rare work on the equestrian tribe of Paraguay, source of Southey’s Take of Paraguay (1825), marvelously illustrated with folding maps of the region and plates illustrating the native population and fauna: praised by Sabin, Southey, Furlong and Mitre, still of interest to anthropologist and ethnographers. Dobrizhoffer (1717-1791) was an Austrian Priest and missionary, sent to South America in 1749 where he spent 18 years among the Guaranis and the Abipones (now an extinct tribe) following the expulsion of the Jesuits he returned to Vienna where he secured the protection of Maria Theresa and published his book.

Second and Third Cortes Letters of 1524 “a work of bedrock importance to the New World” (Reese).

This fine sammelband comprises the first Latin Editions of Cortes's 2nd and 3rd Letters, bound together in the early 17th century, along with Italian translations of Cortes's Second and Third Letters excerpted from Ramusio's 1606 Navigatione et Viaggi, and with Porcacchi's 1605 Isolario.

The first map to name Louisiana, first printed account of La Salle’s exploration of the Illinois country, and the first eye-witness description of Niagara Falls

An important work of Americana, incorporating the first issue of the first map to name Louisiana, this is Hennepin’s first work, which contains the first printed account of La Salle’s exploration of the Illinois country, and the first eye-witness description of Niagara Falls; this is the second edition of the book, however contains the first issue of the map, entitled ‘Carte de la Nouvelle France et de la Louisiane’ showing the Mississippi River not fully extending to the Gulf of Mexico and with a faint dotted line indicating the presumed course of the River, the map was engraved by Roussel and embellished with a cartouche by N. Guerard.

Exceptionally early Americanum, news of Gaspar Cortereal’s voyage to Greenland and the eastern coast of today’s Canada

First edition, an exceptionally early piece of Canadiana and Greenlandiana: this is the Venetian ambassador's first-hand report on his travels with Gaspar Cortereal to Greenland and the eastern coast of today’s Canada.

Fine photo album of Mexico and Cuba, along with a German cigar factory

Very fine, large original photographs with views of Mexico by Abel Briquet (1833-1926), a French photographer and owner of a studio in Paris, operating from the 1850s onwards.

The first printed plan of Lima

First edition, illustrated with the first printed map of Lima, an extremely important cartographic record of the capital city, and the most powerful city, of the Viceroyalty, created for the Estrella de Lima, written to commemorate the beatification of Saint Toribio Alfonso de Mogrovejo, a man of significant influence. The map was commissioned to Joseph Mulder, it is a visually striking engraving, completely adorned with images surrounding the map.

Condemning the cruelty towards the rebellious Araucanian Natives of Chile; a masterpiece poem of the 16th century

The Araucana is one of most reliable sources on the conquest of Chile and the wars against the Araucanos, virtually undisputed as one of the most significant pieces of literature produced in South America in the 16th century; it is set in 37 cantos in octavas, narrating the Spanish conquest of the Araucanian Indians, under the command of Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza (1535 – 1609), Governor of Chile and later Viceroy of Peru, who is treated harshly in the book.

The development of Jefferson County by French immigrants connected to Revolution, including maps with city planning and hundreds of documents about land acquisition and the general context surrounding the creation of the city

An extraordinary record of land acquisition and development by French settlers in Jefferson County, New York, spanning an eighty-year period from the close of the eighteenth century to the 1870s.

The most important Spanish Chronicle of the Discovery, and Conquest of the Americas

First edition, and a landmark Americana, one of the most comprehensive, early, and reliable sources of information of the Spanish discovery, colonization and exploration of the first half of the 16th century in the Americas, the Pacific Ocean, and the Philippines, a large part of which is herein published for the first time and unavailable elsewhere; additionally, one of the rarest and most sought-after 17th century travel books.

One of the first printed examples of transcribed Iroquois oral literature from a Native author

Third edition, an important work of Iroquois history, beautiful copy in the editor’s wrappers. This book represents one of the first printed examples of transcribed Iroquois oral literature from a Native author. Within its pages Cusick presents "a written account of the Iroquois oral traditions surrounding the creation of the universe, the foundation of North America, the early settlement of the continent, and the origin of the Five Nations (later Six)" (Kalter).

A near full-run of the Acts passed under the reign of King George III, a period that oversaw the American Revolutionary War, changes in policy regarding slavery, etc.

In ninety-three volumes and including 5,190 Acts, this collection recalls the entirety of the reign of King George III, undoubtedly one of the most significant for American history and in general amongst the most dynamic and rapidly changing periods of the modern era: these Acts bear witness to the birth and rebirth of nations, accounts of the birth of the United States of America, the reorganization and regulation of the East India Company, the gradual abolition of slavery, the rapid onset of the Industrial Revolution, the growth of an empire that touched every corner of the known world and the rising clatter of mechanization and industry. Almost every major Act of George III’s reign is included. Sixty years of some of the most energetic social and political history are laid out, kept in time to the marching beat of Parliamentary governance. This set even more interesting for having been held together and bound with the arms of the City of Aberdeen in most volumes until recently. This collection is an invaluable primary source of unusual scale and completeness.