Americae Pars Quinta by De Bry Johann Theodore 1560 1623 (4 results)

4to., (14 x 9 4/8 inches). Engraved title-page, repeated. Double-page engraved map "Hispaniae novae sive magnae, recens et vera descriptio 1595", engraved vignette of Columbus, 22 engraved plates (without original blank F4s, washed). 20th-century full green crushed morocco gilt by Pratt (extremities a bit rubbed). Provenance: with an appraisal by Henry Stevens, Son & Stiles dated 1925 tipped in before the first blank. Second edition, with the fifth line of the title-page reading "Secundae sectionis." and there are 13 lines of text beneath the portrait of Columbus. A continuation of Benzoni's account of his fifteen years of travel in the Isthmus of Panama and Guatemala first published in Venice in 1565: "It was [written] at the time when the controversy concerning the treatment of the Indians was hottest, and a work, written by one who had just returned from the New World after a stay of fifteen years could not fail to attract attention. In writing it, no standard of criticism was applied; this was not in the spirit of the times. The ultra-philanthropists found Benzoni a welcome auxiliary, and foreign nations, all more or less leagued against Spain for the sake of supplanting its mastery of the Indies, eagerly adopted his extreme statements and sweeping accusations" (Catholic Encyclopedia). Church 157. Catalogued by Kate Hunter.

3 parts in one volume. Folio (13 x 9 inches). 4 (of 5) engraved title-pages (that for ".pars quinta" with early ink scoring to text), portrait of Columbus, fine folding engraved map of "Hispaniae Novae. 1595" (close cropped), one double-page plate of Cusco, and 51 vignettes (lacking the duplicate engraved title-page in ".pars quinta", and the blank leaves from each part, some oxidation of the text, and subsequent offsetting, one or two marginal tears not affecting the text, ). 19th-century half green morocco, marbled boards gilt (extremities scuffed). Provenance: With the 19th-century ownership inscription of Charles Edward Harris of Tylney Hall on the front free endpaper, and his engraved armorial bookplate on the front paste-down; First editions in Latin of the fifth (second issue), sixth and seventh parts of de Bry's "Great Voyages". Including "Americae pars quinta." and ".sexta" the continuation and conclusion of Benzoni's account of his fifteen years of travel in the Isthmus of Panama and Guatemala first published in Venice in 1565: "It was [written] at the time when the controversy concerning the treatment of the Indians was hottest, and a work, written by one who had just returned from the New World after a stay of fifteen years could not fail to attract attention. In writing it, no standard of criticism was applied; this was not in the spirit of the times. The ultra-philanthropists found Benzoni a welcome auxiliary, and foreign nations, all more or less leagued against Spain for the sake of supplanting its mastery of the Indies, eagerly adopted his extreme statements and sweeping accusations" (Catholic Encyclopedia). And "America pars VII.", Schmidel's account of his journey to Argentina and Paraguay. The son of a wealthy merchant, Schmidel accompanied the celebrated Spanish conquistador Pedro de Mendoza to Argentina where he fought for the colonisation of the Rio de la Plata, and later served under his successor Juan de Ayolas on his expedition up Paraguay river. He was one of the soldiers that were left with Domingo Irala in charge of the vessels in the port of Candelaria. In 1546 he accompanied Irala on his expedition to Peru as far as the foot of the Andes. On his return to Seville he published his account of his travels in 1567. Church 157, 160, 162. Catalogued by Kate Hunter.

4to., (13 6/8 x 9 4/8 inches). Engraved title-page, repeated. Double-page engraved map "Hispaniae novae sive magnae, recens et vera descriptio 1595", engraved vignette of Columbus, 22 engraved plates in two states (very browned). With 2 original blank F4s. 19th-century half brown morocco gilt. Provenance: With the ink library stamp of Sion College on the verso of each plate. Second edition, with the fifth line of the title-page reading "Secundae sectionis." and there are 13 lines of text beneath the portrait of Columbus, but with plates in first and second states. A continuation of Benzoni's account of his fifteen years of travel in the Isthmus of Panama and Guatemala first published in Venice in 1565: "It was [written] at the time when the controversy concerning the treatment of the Indians was hottest, and a work, written by one who had just returned from the New World after a stay of fifteen years could not fail to attract attention. In writing it, no standard of criticism was applied; this was not in the spirit of the times. The ultra-philanthropists found Benzoni a welcome auxiliary, and foreign nations, all more or less leagued against Spain for the sake of supplanting its mastery of the Indies, eagerly adopted his extreme statements and sweeping accusations" (Catholic Encyclopedia). Sion College was founded by the bequest of the wealthy Thomas White (1550-1624), who also built a hospital in Temple in Bristol, provided scholarships to Magdalen Hall, funded a lectureship at St Paul's in London, bequeathed his folio and Latin books to St George's Chapel, Windsor, and donated to the city of Bristol money for the improvement of roads and other municipal purposes. The library grew with the help of many small donors including Matthew Forster's gift in 1646 of Caxton's first book "The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye", printed at Bruges in 1474-75. Another early bequest was from the library of Walter Travers (1548? - 1635), puritan divine which included a Mercator Atlas. However the College buildings and a third of the books were lost in the Great Fire of 1666. Church 157. Catalogued by Kate Hunter.

3 works in 4 volumes. 4to., (13 4/8 x 9 2/8 inches). "Admiranda narratio fida tamen": engraved title-page (with letterpress title and imprint printed on overslips), dedication leaf with engraved vignette, full-page engraving of Adam and Eve, double-page engraved map "Americae pars, Nunc Virginia dicta" (Burden 76, state 3), and 28 numbered plates, including one double and one folding mostly after John White by Theodor de Bry (some fore-edges frayed, one or two plates with early ink annotations, some oxidization). "Americae pars quarta", 2 volumes: engraved title-page (repeated), full-page engraving with seven armorial shields and figures of the Virtues, 2 half-page engraved vignettes, one of Columbus led by the deities, and another an allegorical engraving "Americae retectio", double-page engraved map of "Occidentalis america partis" (Burden 83) (lower margin trimmed to neat line) in the first volume, "Hispaniae novae sive magnae" at the end of the second volume, 24 half page engraved vignettes numbered with Hebrew numerals in the engravings, and Roman numerals in the text (without original blanks, text quite oxidized). "America pars quinta": (bound without text leaves and portrait of Columbus) engraved title-page, 22 half-page engraved vignettes (without repeated title-page and original blank, oxidized throughout). 18th-century blind panelled sheep with central arabesque medallion to an earlier style (quite worn with minor loss to the extremities). Provenance: inscribed at length on the paste-down of each volume by "A.V.D.S." and dated 1740; modern etched bookplates on verso of title-pages. White's "images of Native Americans in the late sixteenth century were exceptional for his era and unsurpassed as a visual record of south-eastern tribal life until the advent of photography" (Tiro). Second edition, second issue of "Admiranda narratio fida tamen" (Church 143) or Thomas Harriot's "A Brief and True Report of the New Found land of Virginia" first published in London in 1588. With a fine copy of de Bry's celebrated map "Americae pars, Nunc Virginia dicta": "Theodore de Bry's map of Virginia, after John White, is one of the most significant cartographical milestones in colonial North American history. It is the most accurate map drawn in the sixteenth century of any part of that continent. It became the prototype of the area until long after James Moxon's map in 1671. this is the first map to focus on Virginia (now largely North Carolina), and records the first English attempts at colonisation in the New World" (Burden). Harriot was employed "'at a most liberal salary' by the queen's favourite, Sir Walter Ralegh (c.1552-1618), to teach Ralegh and his sea captains at Durham House in London the sciences of navigation, and to serve him in various other capacities, in preparation for Ralegh's first enterprise to establish a settlement in America. Harriot-but not Ralegh-was a member of the short-lived colony which landed on Roanoke Island, Virginia, in June 1585 and returned to England with Sir Francis Drake in June 1586. Before the voyage Harriot had studied the local language from two Algonquian Indians who had been taken to England in 1584 by a reconnaissance expedition. He even invented a phonetic alphabet to represent the language, and used his knowledge in Virginia to study local social and religious customs, together with plants, animals, and produce. Harriot published a summary of his survey, largely to defend Ralegh's enterprise, as a pamphlet in 1588 entitled "A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia". At a time of brutal violence between colonists and native inhabitants the text is remarkable for its sympathy towards Algonquian beliefs and customs. It also contains what may be the first printed promotional literature in English for tobacco by an English writer, and Harriot and Ralegh were subsequently credited with the introduction of pipe tobacco smoking into England from Virginia" (J. J. Roche for DNB).