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Catalogue
73
Voyages
& Travels
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Rare Account of the Taking of New York |
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6. [ANON]. Description Exacte de tout ce qui passé
dans les Guerres Entre le Roy d'Angleterre, le Roy de France, les
Estats des Provinces Unies du Pays-Bas, & l'Evesque de Munster.
Commençant de l'An 1664. & finissant avec la conclusion
de Paix, faire à Bredà en l'An 1667. Amsterdam, Jacques
Benjamin, 1668. First French edition. $2,350
Small square 4to; pp. 241, [2] ("Registre"); 10 engraved
plates, including engraved title; Cc3 mis-signed Ca3; contemporary
full mottled calf, somewhat worn, with neat, small repair to tail
of spine; faint dampstain to 4 leaves; few plates shaved to neatline;
overall, a very good, very clean copy.
JCB III:166; Polak 250; European-Americana 668/43; Davenport II:
58; Bell D169; vide Sabin 38247, Church 599 and Asher 354 (Dutch
eds.); Howes K253: "Best contemporary account of the war between
England, France and Holland, in which the latter country lost New
Amsterdam." The book lists the names and numbers of those killed
in battles and the ships taken. It gives a vivid description of
the fire of London of 1666, listing the places gutted, with a lurid
illustration of the fire. It also describes the taking of New Amsterdam
by the English in 1664, and gives the Articles of Surrender of the
whole province of New Netherlands to Governor Nicholls. Vivid accounts
of the battles in the West Indies and Barbados are given, as well
as a description of the conditions of the Treaty of Breda, which
saw the English return Acadia to the French in exchange for Antigua,
Montserrat and St. Christopher. This work is one of the earliest
relating to New York, and one of the first in which the name New
York ("Nouvelle Jorck") actually occurs. First published
in Dutch the previous year ("Kort en bondigh verhael van 'tgreene
in den oorlogh tusschen den Koning van Engelant, &c.");
both Dutch and French editions are extremely scarce.
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7.
[ANON]. État actuel de l'Inde, Et considérations
sur les établissemens & le commerce de la France dans
cette partie du monde, sur les améliorations dont ils sont
susceptibles, & sur la meilleure maniere d'y faire le commerce.
A Londres; Et se trouve à Paris: Chez Madame veuve Laurent
Prault, Libraire, 1787. $450
8vo; pp. iv, 224. Recent quarter calf over marbled boards; blind
tooling of fleurs-de-lis on spine, gilt title and bands; decorative
devices at end of some sections. Small burn hole affecting two letters
on one page; lower edge of one page stained with printer's ink.
A very good copy of a scarce work.
Kress B: 1209A; JFB: E154; not in Goldsmiths' nor in Muller. The
Compagnie des Indes (French East India Company) was initially established
in 1664 by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, under King Louis XIV, in order
to trade with India. The Company's first operations were based in
India, and later with other trading partners in America and Africa.
It was more successful in India than elsewhere; Pondicherry remained
a major trading post until the British captured it in 1761.
The Company's operations were suspended in 1769, but reinstated
under Louis XVI in 1785. This work, written by a shareholder of
the newly revived company, is an historical guide to the various
ports of trade and their business practices. It is a very interesting
account of the commercial activity in the French colonies before
the French Revolution.
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8. [ANON]. Nouvelle Histoire de Genghiskan, Conquerant de
l'Asie. A Paris au Palais, Chez Jean-Baptiste Mazuel, sur les Degrez
de la Sainte Chapelle, au Voyageur, M.D.CC.XVI (1716). $950
12mo; pp. [12], 241. Signatures: [7], A-V8/4, X1. Contemporary full
mottled calf, worn at corners and head of spine; spine gilt in compartments
with gilt morocco label; marbled endpapers; title vignette; head-pieces
and elaborate tail-pieces; foliated initial; bookseller's label
on front paste-down; some notations in ink on front fly-leaf, verso
and free endpaper; tear in margin of three leaves, no loss of text;
few stains on four leaves.
BNF; BL; McMaster. Fascination with the mysteries and legends of
the Orient in 17th century France became more pronounced in the
18th century following the appearance of Antoine Gallard's translation
of "The Thousand and One Nights" in 1704, and French orientalist
François Pétis de la Croix's publication of "Les
Mille et un jours" in 1710-1712. Tales of romance in exotic
lands appealed to the French court, where "histoires gallantes"
dominated the popular literature of the period. These stories were
mainly written by women, many of whom were prominent members of
the French aristocracy, encouraged by salonnardes to create tales
that ranged from the historical to the fanciful. The tales usually
included commentary on love, moral dilemmas and the social constraints
of aristocratic life, expressed by strong women characters who were
no doubt more vociferous in the guise of exotic settings. The author
of this work, a self-described "Dame illustrée,"
based her tale of the 13th century Mongolian Emperor Genghis Khan
on an "abridged" version by the "petit Auteur Tartare"
whom Pétis de la Croix apparently overlooked. The second
tale involves Genghis Khan's grandson Gelejian and three princesses,
one of whom holds her own on the battlefield, dressed in rich robes
and diamonds, brandishing a sabre. While there are accounts of conquests
in the war arena, there are also descriptions of lavish court events,
such as fêtes with garden fireworks. Probably the most interesting
part of the work is a court debate, launched by the queen, on whether
the condition of men is preferable to that of women. Other commentaries
touch on the fear of aging and the comforts of home. A scarce and
very interesting example of the genre.
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9.
[ANON]. State of the British and French Colonies in North
America, with respect to Number of People, Forces, Forts, Indians,
Trade and other Advantages. In which are considered, I. The defenceless
Condition of our Plantations, and to what Causes owing II. Pernicious
Tendency of the French Encroachments, and the fittest Methods of
frustrating them III. What it was occasioned their present Invasion,
and the Claims on which they ground their Proceedings. With a Proper
Expedient proposed for preventing future Disputes. In Two Letters
to a Friend. London, A. Millar, 1755. First edition.
8vo; f, pp. 190 [i.e. 150]; engraved folding map; contemporary full
sprinkled calf, expertly rebacked some time ago; light age-toning;
a very good copy, with p. 150 misnumbered "190". The title-page
does not call for a map and the one present probably was not issued
with the book.
Stevens, Rare Americana (1927) 522, and Historical Nuggets (1862)
2606; Rich, Bibliotheca Americana Nova, p. 108; Sabin 90601; Howes
S913; TPL 241; Bell S594; Lande 809; Dionne II:507; Gagnon II:2042;
Streeter II: 1011; JCB 1292; Kress S2072. Although Howes claims
that some copies were issued with a map, and although this copy
contains a map (not the same map as in the Siebert copy), none of
the references we cite, nor any of the library holdings we have
checked, calls for a map, neither in original editions nor in microfiches
or facsimile editions, and we question whether, indeed, a specific
map was in fact issued for this work. This anonymous work is of
particular interest for the area of the Ohio and the Mississippi
rivers. It details the dangers of the encircling policy of the French,
and emphasises the importance to the English colonies of building
good relations with the Indians. It is written "In Two Letters
to a Friend", and quotes important works by such as [Jeremiah]
Dummer, [Daniel] Neal, [Cadwallader] Colden, [William] Smith and
[Archibald] Kennedy."This anonymous work is a calm and dispassionate
statement of the case of England against the encirclement policy
of France. ... In emphasizing the importance of the Indians to the
English, the author exposes the abuses which the Indians had suffered
at the hands of the colonists."- (Streeter).
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10.
[ANON]. The Life Voyages and Adventures, of George Alexander
Lovett, an Original & Authentic Narrative. London, J. Kendrew,
[1820?]. $975
12mo; engraved frontispiece and title-vignette; pp. [11]-34; recent
quarter-morocco and paper-covered boards; gilt-stamped morocco label
on front cover. A very good copy.
Not in Huntress; not in Lowndes; BM (compact ed.), v.15, p.1226
(under Lovett); not located in the databases of Harvard, Yale, New
York Public or Library of Congress; a few copies are noted in the
U.K. variously under 1812 or 1820, with varying pagination and different
publishers. Lovett fled the home of his adoptive parents and joined
a merchant ship bound for the Barbados. When close to Jamaica the
ship was attacked by the French, Lovett was thrown into jail, managed
to escape to an island, was picked up by a pirate ship and finally
set down on the Cornish coast. This is a delightful description
of the adventures of an adolescent boy, orphaned when a babe, who
survives his many perilous adventures, loses his true love, is charged
with murder and brought to trial but, in the end, finds true happiness.
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