Histoire générale des isles
First edition of the first work dedicated to the Antilles by Père du Tertre.
A very fine copy, complete with its "3 maps which are very often missing" (Leclerc).
The copy of the Duke of La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680), with his autograph signature.
5 parts in 1 quarto volume of (8) leaves, 481 pp., (11) pp. and 3 maps. Granitized calf, double framing of triple gilt fillet with corner fleurons on covers, spine with raised bands decorated with double fillet and gilt fleurons, marbled edges. Contemporary binding.
228 x 170 mm.
Du Tertre, Jean-Baptiste. General History of the Islands of St. Christopher, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and others in America. Where one will see the establishment of the French Colonies in these Islands; their civil and foreign wars, and everything that happens during voyages and returns from the Indies.Paris, Jacques Langlois and Emmanuel Langlois, 1654.
Dedicated to Achille de Harlay, the edition is adorned with 3 finely engraved maps of the islands of Saint Christopher, Guadeloupe, and Martinique.
Sabin 21457; Streit, 1899; Leclerc, 2133; Palau, 330768.
The copy of the Duke de La Rochefoucauld, with his autograph signature, complete with the “3 maps which are most often missing” (Leclerc).
“Du Tertre was born in Calais in 1610. His love of travel led him to take passage aboard a Dutch ship, on which he made several voyages to America; later, he served in the army of the Prince of Orange, then, abandoning this adventurous life, he joined the Dominicans. His superiors, taking advantage of his experience, sent him to the Antilles, where he undertook to write their history.
His book, the fruit of personal observations, is the most important work ever published on these islands. Later writers have attested to its perfect accuracy” (Picot, 1984).
Du Tertre spent eighteen years in the Antilles, from 1640 to 1658, during which time he gathered extensive information on the natural history of these islands, the customs of their inhabitants, and the establishment of the French colonies from 1625 to 1667.
This work is the first one written by a Frenchman, dealing with the French islands in America. It describes everything which happened in the French settlements in the Antilles from 1625 to 1667. The author spent 18 years as a missionary there, and gives much interesting information on the various plants, animals, minerals, etc. A large section is devoted to the many kinds of trees, which the author divides into wild and fruit-bearing ones. He speaks of at least forty species, among them laurel, cypress, sandalwood, palm, besides many wild unknown ones. He also discusses in detail the tobacco plant, its four different kinds, planting, cultivation, harvest, processing, and manufacture. The volume is illustrated with three beautifully engraved, clear, extremely well-preserved maps, picturing the islands of Saint Christophe, Guadeloupe, and Martinique. At the end of the book is a Carib translation of some of the prayers of the Church, which the missionaries taught to the natives.
"He writes with sufficient detail, but not with exaggeration, and his work has often been used by authors as a source book on natural history." (Eyries)
The maps indicate not only the sea routes but also the mineral or picturesque resources of the three islands.
Provenance: Libraries of Noël Brûlart, Marquis de Sillery, collaborator of Saint Vincent de Paul, with signature and ex-libris, François VI, Duke de La Rochefoucauld, author of the Maxims, with his autograph signature, Sir Thomas Phillipps and Lionel Robinson, (Sotheby's London 1986, no. 347).
