Rare Americana

catalogue three hundred fifty Rare Americana WILLIAM REESE COMPANY 409 temple street new haven, connecticut 06511 (203) 789 · 8081 his catalogue celebrates reaching another round-number milestone Tin our series with a special listing of fifty exciting books, manuscripts, and archives in Americana. We have organized the catalogue in chronological order to best illustrate the sweep of history, beginning with the work which names America, Vespucci’s Mun- dus Novus in 1504, and progressing to one of the great classics of natural history, Biolo- gia Centrali-Americana, published at the end of the 19th century. In between we have selected important works new to our stock, intended to illustrate the range and diversity of the material we handle. Catalogue 1 of the Reese Company was issued in January 1980. Now, almost thirty- eight years later and after almost forty-three years in the trade, we are pleased to present our 350th. william reese November 2017 Available on request or via our website are our recent catalogues 343 Recent Acquisitions in Americana, 345 The American Revolution, 346 Western Americana, 347 The Streeter Sale Revisited, Fifty Years Later, 348 The Best of the West; bulletins 45 Natural History, 46 Manuscripts, 48 American Scenes and Views, and 49 Manuscripts; e-lists (only available on our website) and many more topical lists. If you would like to receive e-mail notification when catalogues and lists are uploaded, please e-mail us at [email protected], specifying whether you would like to receive the notifications in lieu of or in addition to paper catalogues.If you would prefer not to receive future catalogues and/or notifications, please let us know. terms Material herein is offered subject to prior sale. All items are as described and are con- sidered to be on approval. Notice of return must be given within ten days unless specific arrangements are made. Connecticut residents must be billed state sales tax. Postage and insurance charges are billed to all nonprepaid domestic orders. Overseas orders are sent by air unless otherwise requested, with full postage charges billed at our discretion. Pay- ment by check, wire transfer, or bank draft is preferred, but may also be made by Master- Card or Visa. William Reese Company Phone: (203) 789-8081 409 Temple Street Fax: (203) 865-7653 New Haven, Connecticut 06511 e-mail: [email protected] www.williamreesecompany.com front cover: An adaptation from 7. Le Moyne, Jacques: Der Ander Theyl, der Newlich Erfvndenen Landt-Schafft Americæ. Frankfurt. 1591. back cover: 18. Catesby, Mark: The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands. London. 1754. The Book That Named the New World 1. Vespucci, Amerigo: MUNDUS NOVUS. Augsburg: Johannes Otmar, 1504. 4 leaves. Gothic letter, three woodcut astronomical diagrams. Red crushed morocco by Chambolle-Duru, finished in gilt. Very good. Prov- enance: Arthur Young (1741–1820, pencil note about the sale of his library at Sotheby’s in December 1896); Sir Henry Hope Edwardes, 19th Baronet (1829–1900, bookplate and inscription: “very rare 3rd voyage,” recording price of “£78 at Arthur Young’s sale, 1896”). A primary account of the discovery of the New World, and the first to describe it as such, by the man after whom the Americas would be named. In this cru- cial epistolary report, Amerigo Vespucci informed his patron, Lorenzo di Pier Francesco de’ Medici, about his third voyage to the West, carried out in the ser- vice of King Emmanuel of Portugal between May 1501 and September 1502. It is the first printed account of Brazil, and Vespucci’s first published work about his American voyages. The expedition reached the coast of South America, near Cape St. Roque, and kept coasting southward, possibly sailing as far as 50° south latitude. Coming ashore, Vespucci met natives of both sexes, whom he describes as naked cannibals wearing colorful ornaments in their perforated ears, noses, and lips. He describes their shameless sexual practices, and speculates that they lived much longer than Europeans. After almost a month ashore, he describes houses, hammocks, customs, and eating habits. He particularly notes the new things in America, unlike any things seen before in Europe. He discusses animals and plants, some of which he compares to Old World things, and others that are wholly new. Likewise, the very sky of the Southern Hemisphere was different. As a skilled astronomer, Vespucci was the first to measure the positions of the most important southern stars, including Canopus. A brief description of them, along with three star diagrams, appears for the first time in this work. Vespucci was a Florentine, whose career was primarily as an agent of the Medi- cis. He went to Barcelona in their employ in 1489, and to Seville in 1493. He was probably involved in equipping the ships for Columbus’ second voyage, and went on his own first voyage in 1497 and second in 1499 under the Spanish flag. He switched to the Portuguese for this third voyage. What we know of Vespucci’s voyages comes from two letters by him. The first, present here, is a letter by him to his patron, Lorenzo de’ Medici, about the third voyage, originally made in 1503. The other letter, to Piero Soderini, was made in late 1504 and describes the first four voyages. The 1503 manuscript letter (the original is now lost) appeared in print in Venice, Rome, and Augsburg in 1504. The present copy is the second issue of the Augsburg edition, with an imprint which does not appear on the otherwise identical first issue. Different bibliogra- phers have assigned different precedence to the 1504 editions, but all must have been done within a few months in 1504, via the Medici information network in Europe. These early editions were pivotal in establishing the fame of Vespucci and causing the New World to be named after him. All are of great rarity; Euro- pean Americana notes five copies. This copy has a provenance in distinguished English collections from the 19th century. One of the foundation stones of Americana, the work in which it is named the New World. european americana 504/7. borba de moraes, p.909. harrisse bav 31. church 20. jcb (3)i:39. medina, bha 30. sabin 99330. Gerbi, Nature in the New World, pp.35–44. $450,000. The First Great Chronicle of the New World, with Some of the Earliest Images of New World Natives and Plants, Signed by the Author 2. Oviedo y Valdes, Gonzalo Fernandez de: LA HISTORIA GENERAL DE LAS INDIAS. Seville: Juan Cromberger, 1535. 197 leaves as follows: title- leaf, folios +1–3, folios 1–193; plus in-text woodcuts. Titlepage printed in red and black. Quarto. Modern mottled calf, gilt, spine ornately gilt, leather label. Marginal loss along top edge throughout, very neatly repaired, occa- sionally shaving headlines. A very good copy. This famous work is the most extensive book on the New World written up to the time of publication, and is one of the chief sources to this day for many of the facts relating to the early history of the Spanish conquest of the New World. The colo- phon leaf is signed by Oviedo, as is found in some copies. Oviedo was a witness to that history from the beginning, having seen, as a young page at the Spanish court, the return of Columbus in 1493. In 1505 he went out to the Indies himself as an official, and subsequently served in a number of important administrative posts. Over the next three decades he kept extensive notes on the history of the Spanish in the New World and all he observed there, especially natural history and the Indians he encountered. He also interviewed all of the Spanish explorers to whom he had access. In 1526 he published a short work on the natural history of the Indies, followed nine years later by the present work. His industry provides an extraordinary description of the period, one that his high offices and education gave him a unique ability to record. Oviedo’s work is illustrated with numerous woodcuts, which are the earliest extant reliable pictures of things in the New World. These include a number of botanical sub- jects such as prickly pear, as well as artifacts including the hammock, and natives, the most famous of which depicts Indians panning for gold. Oviedo was the first writer to gather detailed and accurate information on the natural history of the New World. Over half of La Historia General . is devoted to natural history, especially focusing on plants and trees. Books 8 and 9 are entirely devoted to trees and plants, while books 10 and 11 cover plants with medicinal qualities. The illustrations which accompany these chapters are the earliest illustrations of American plants drawn from nature. Book 7 is entirely devoted to agriculture in the New World, describing cultivated fruits and plants raised for food by the Indians. Books 12, 13, 14, and 15 describe water animals (including his famous manatee description), birds, insects, and mammals. The first edition of Oviedo’s book publishes the first nineteen parts of his history. The twentieth part appeared in Ramusio’s Viaggi . in 1551, and the remain- ing thirty were not published until 1851. This first edition is one of the outstand- ing early books on the New World, a foundation work regarding the period of the initial Spanish conquest. european americana 535/12. harrisse bav 207. church 71. arents, tobacco 4. medina, bha 4. nissen zoology 3032. jcb (3)i:118. reese & miles, creating america 10. servies, p.1. $250,000. Men of Cajamarca: Two Eyewitness Accounts of Events 3.

Load more