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(EARLY EXPLORATION.) Herrera, Antonio de.
Descripcion de las Indias
Ocidentales
and
Historia general de los hechos de los Castellanos en las islas i
tierra firme del mar oceano.
14 folding maps, 8 engraved title pages, text illustrations.
[38], 78, [4], 292; [4], 288, [2], 296; [4], 232, [6], 252; [4], 236, [4], 245; [4], 251, [450] pages.
8 volumes in 5. Folio, contemporary vellum, moderate wear; first title page possibly
supplied from another copy, inked numbers on three title pages, minor dampstaining in
first volume only; small inked “MM” stamps on verso of titles and pages 52.
Madrid: Rodríguez Franco, 1726-30
[7,000/10,000]
Third and best edition, with extensive index, of one of the most comprehensive early histories of
the Spanish colonies, produced with full access to secret Spanish archives and drawing upon
manuscript sources which are no longer extant. It is divided into eight Decadas, each with their own
unique engraved title page full of vignettes of conquistadors and battle scenes. One of a series of
attractive folio editions of 17th-century works edited by Andrés González de Barcia. Borba de
Moraes, page I:401; Cowan 1933, page 276; European Americana 730/118; Medina, BHA
2580; Palau 114287-8; Sabin 31541, 31546; Wagner, Spanish Southwest 12k-l.