250 - 1730.

1730. BOOK. (HISTORY—AMERICA). HERRERA, ANTONIO:. GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DEEDS OF THE CASTILIANS IN THE ISLANDS AND ON THE MAINLAND OF THE OCEAN... EIGHTH DECADE. Madrid: Royal Printing Office of Nicolás Rodríguez, 1730. Small folio. Engraved title page with various scenes + 2 ill. + 251 pp. + 255 ill. in three-column tables. Text with a chalcographic header at the beginning, in two columns, with marginal notes, headings, capitals, and woodcut culs-de-lampe. Restoration at the tip of the last leaf, slightly affecting the text. Deep waterstains from the front endpaper to the first three leaves, with minor loss of support. Bound in 19th-century Spanish cloth, with waterstains on the front cover, and a label. Pinelo describes this work as the most complete, comprehensive, and well-documented of all those produced, since Herrera compiled everything that had been written up to the year 1554. Furthermore, Philip II provided him with all the documents and writings pertaining to those colonies that were held in archives and libraries in Spain. According to Robertson, it is Herrera who provides the most extensive and accurate accounts of the conquest of Mexico. Palau 114288.