Amongst the greatest histories of the New World

This copy a rare complete second edition

Antonio Herrera de Tordesillas (1549-1626).

Primera parte de la historia general del Mundo, de XVII. años del tiempo del señor Rey don Felipe II. el Prudente, desde el año de M.D.LIII. hasta el de M.D.LXX.

Valladolid, Juan Godinez de Millis, 1606 (colophon: Valladolid, Juan Godinez de Millis, 1605).
4° in 8s. [8], 820, [42] pp. Collates: x4, A-2Z8, 3A-3B6, x-2x8, 3x4.

[includes:]

Segunda parte de la historia general del Mundo, de XV. años del tiempo del señor Rey don Felipe II. el Prudente, desde el año de M.D.LXXI. hasta el de M.D.LXXXV.

Valladolid, [Juan Godinez de Millis], 1606 (colophon: Valladolid, Juan Godinez de Millis, 1605).
4° in 8s. [6], 630, [2 blank], [38] pp. Collates: π3, A-2Q8, 2R, π-3π3, [1 blank].

[includes:]

Tercera parte de la historia general del Mundo, de XIIII. años del tiempo del señor Rey don Felipe II. el prudente, desde el año de 1585. hasta el de 1598. que passò a major vida.

Madrid, Alonso Martin de Balboa, 1612.

4° in 8s. [8], 780, [34] pp. Collates: π4, A*, x-x2, B-3B8, 3C6, A-B8, C.

3 volumes.  Each volume with a woodcut Royal Spanish coat of arms on the title page.

Early 19^th century marbled calf with gilt title and decorations on smooth spines.

Rare complete second edition of Herrera’s monumental chronicle of world history during the reign of King Philip II of Spain (1554-1598).

               Cet ouvrage est un des plus importants qu’on ait publiés sur les découvertes des Espagnols dans le Nouveau-Monde (Salva).

Besides being renowned as one of the most important sources on early American history, it also provides a wealth of information about Arabia, Turkey, India, China, Japan, the Philippines, The Netherlands, Great-Britain, Scandinavia, Malta and more. The author was Historian of the Indies to the King and had access to now lost manuscript primary sources, including those by De las Casas and Palacio. On the subject of the New World this work eclipsed all that was published before it in truth, scope, accuracy and style. No book received more praise in Sabin’s Americana bibliography. The very long entry, in which Sabin calls Herrera the “Prince of Historians” is mainly an impressive compilation of praise by other bibliographers. In John Carter Brown’s Biblioteca Americana the book was given the honour to start off the second volume and it is marked as the first work of importance about the history of the Americas. Curiously though, they mention the second edition as printed at Madrid, by Franco, in 1728… Sabin on the other hand fails to mention the first edition from Madrid.
               Compared to the first edition (Madrid, 1601) the contents of this second edition differ greatly, so much so that they might be viewed as different books altogether. The text is completely reworked and enlarged. The first edition was published in Madrid just before the Spanish Court moved to Valladolid, where the second, improved, edition would be published. Volume 1 and 2 were published at Valladolid in 1606 but strangely the colophon in vol. 2 mentions that it was printed in 1605 and vol. 1 in 1606. The third volume was published later (1612) and is a first and only edition.

Condition: bindings rubbed at the edges. Jesuit stamp on p. 1 of vol. 1. Title-pages repaired, not affecting text, vol.1 small hole in center of title. Sporadically slightly browned pages. Ink offset in the margins of the final pages of vol. 1 . Tear in l. 2M7 of vol. 1. Stamp on f. 1. Otherwise in good, clean condition.

Provenance: Library of the Imperial College of Jesuits.

Literature:

Giuseppe Marcocci, The Globe on Paper: Writing Histories of the World in Renaissance Europe and the Americas, Oxford University Press, 2020.

Mariano Cuesta Domingo, Antonio Herrera y su Historia General del Mundo, Madrid, Boletín Oficial del Estado, 2016.

Palau 114318, 114319, 114317.

Sabin 31559 (does not mention the Madrid edition(!)).

Yolanda Rodríguez Pérez, The Dutch Revolt Through Spanish Eyes, Bern, Peter Lang, 2008.