Nine volumes bound in four in folio, (272 x 195 mm). 4 ff., 371 pp., 10 ff.; 2 ff., 368 pp., 8 ff.; 2 ff., 377 pp., 8 ff.; 2 ff., 293 pp., 7 ff., 4 ff., 317 pp., 1 [blank], 10 ff.; 2 ff., 302 pp., 9 ff.; 4 ff., 316 pp., 10 ff.; 4 ff., 342 pp., 8 ff.; 2 ff., 96 pp. Near contemporary limp vellum, uniform, spines lettered in ink in the 18th century, hinges strengthened at a later point, flyleaves renewed at the time, ties perished, some soiling and staining to vellum, probably recased at some stage. Verso of last leaf of table of second decade with erased inscription causing paper loss and some loss to text on recto, engraved title to the ‘Descripcion de las Indias’ remargined with tiny loss of engraved surface on top right corner and closed tear into the image, a few leaves stabilized, occasionally foxing heavier to a few quires, some minor damp again almost imperceptible and affecting only a few quires, generally an exceptionally clean and fresh copy, with the maps in strong impressions and excellent condition.

The relevance of Herrera´s magnum opus, owed to his appointment as historiographer of the Indies by Philip II, relies largely on his unrestricted access to first-hand chronicles, drawing upon the earliest writers of the Indies, which were otherwise impossible to study (i.e., his access to Juan Lopez de Velasco´s manuscripts with the precious set of maps of the Americas, as well as Antonio de Chaves, Fernandez de Enciso, etc.). Additionally, some sources from which Herrera carried his research from are no longer extant. “According to Perez Pastor (Imprenta en Madrid, Nos. 784 and 1334) the 14 engraved maps are in many cases the first of many of the American provinces described, and the 39 portraits of the conquistadores and other historical personages given on the title-page are the most authentic known. Speaking of the histories of America, Mr. Ticknor says: Of this class, the first in importance and the most comprehensive in character is The General History of the Indies, by Antonio de Herrera. It embraces the period from the first discovery of America to the year 1545; and as Herrera was a practised writer, and, from his official position as historiographer to the Indies, had access to every source of information known in his time, his work, which was printed in 1601, is of very great value.´ History of Spanish Literature, Vol. III., p. 153.” (Maggs, 1928).

Antonio de Herrera (1549 – 1625) was a historian and chronicler to Philip II, from whom he received his appointment as official historiographer; this position granted him access to otherwise restricted material, however also conditioned him away from impartiality, having a patron with a strong interest in the reader´s impression from his writings. This is not to say that his work is bias or inaccurate, it stands strongly as the foremost chronicle on the Indies, but that modern historiography blames him for not having taken a harsher position regarding the American native population´s treatment (a subject he considered fully covered by Bartolome de las Casas, Sahagun, Olmos, and others, and probably to allow him to stick to the telling of events), and copying from other earlier historians, without properly mentioning them. The printing of the full work took 14 years, and two printers, starting with Juan Flamenco, and finishing with Juan de la Cuesta, printer of the first editions of the first and second part of the Quijote (in fact, the last Decada was printed the same year as the second part of the Quijote). The success was immediate, with translations into Latin, French, Dutch, and later English.

The work is divided in two: the first, the “Historia General de los Hechos de los Castellanos en las Islas i Tierra Firme del mar Oceano”, is the larger part, divided into 8 Decadas, each with a sectional engraved title page; the second, sometimes found by itself, “Descripcion de las Indias Occidentales”, bound after the fifth Decada, contains the set of maps, and constitutes the second atlas of the Americas, printed shortly after Wytfliet´s revision of Ptolemy.

The illustration is comprised of 14 double page maps, which are only the second atlas of the Americas, and 9 engraved title pages (each with a full set of vignettes with the portraits of conquistadors, missionaries, generals, and soldiers, also representations of Mexican Deities, inset maps, and battle scenes); the maps are amongst the earliest produced in Spain, whose secretive policy regarding cartographical knowledge was paramount, and are based on those made by Juan Lopez de Velasco (see manuscript in the JCB Codex Sp 7/1-SIZE, and at the Biblioteca Nacional of Spain, CCPB001045908-1). The plates from which these maps were made were not used again, although they were copied in successive editions of Herrera´s “Descripcion”, namely the 18th century Madrid edition revised by historian and chronicler Gonzalez Barcia.

Provenance: inscription on paper pasted on front pastedowns reading “July 1861 This book presented by James Patrick Charles Butler was brought to England from Buenos Ayres in the year 1807 by his uncle Robert William Patrick who was killed at the head of his regiment April 1809 at the age of 24 defending the Bridge of Amaranthe during the Peninsular War. With aft[?] love of Aunt Fanny[?]”; private collection in the United States.

Borba de Moraes, 399 ("rare and much sought after"). Burden 140-142 (for the maps). European Americana 601/42, 601/41. Medina, BHA 455. Palau 114286 ("Obra importante y una de las más completas acerca de la Indias desde su descubrimiento hasta 1554"). Sabin, 31544 & 31539. Wagner, Spanish Southwest, 12. Alden & Landis 601/41.