ARGENSOLA, Bartolomé Leonardo de. Conquista de la islas Malucas. Madrid, Alonso Martin, 1609. Small folio. Engraved allegorical title by P. Perret + [5]f + 411 (misnumbered 407) + [1 blank]p. Contemporary limp vellum; top of spine repaired; remains of ties. € 11.000

An important source for the conquest of the Philippines (1564-72) and the Spice Islands under Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, and the early history of trade. It also contains sections on China, Indonesia, and Ceylon, as well as many interesting early references to Japan and the Japanese, largely relating to trade and to Christian missionary work. The numerous American references include the voyage of Sir Francis Drake, Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa’s voyage of exploration to the Straits of Magellan, special mention of Peru, the Patagonian giants, and Columbus.
Alden & Landis 609/65; Heredia 7702; Leclerc 2002; Medina, Bibliografía de las Islas Filipinas, 48 (records 1 copy only); Medina, Biblioteca Hispano-Americana 551; Palau 16089; Sabin 1946; Salvá 3349.

LUGO, Bernardo de. Gramatica en la lengua general del Nuevo Reyno, llamada Mosca. Madrid, Barnardino de Guzman, 1619. 12mo. [25] + 159 (misnumbered 158)f. Woodcut armorial device incorporating 4 fleurs-de-lis on title. Morocco, gilt. € 10.000

The earliest grammar of the Chibcha, or Mosca language, spoken by the original inhabitants of the highlands of Bogotá, Colombia. The preliminaries contain verses in Chibcha in praise of the author, a member of the Order of Preachers, who taught the language at the Convent of the Rosary in Bogotá at a period when it was already in decline. A model for confession occupies pp 124-159. The Chibchas were culturally among the most advanced Indian tribes of pre-Columbian America, and theirs was the dominant language of the region, one of the three centres of American Indian civilization. The Chibchas rapidly disappeared as a community during early colonization and by the middle of the 18th century their language had become extinct.
Alden & Landis, 619 & 75; Leclerc 2143; Palau 143543; Pérez Pastor (Madrid) 1607; Sabin 42667 (‘excessively rare’).

MADRID. Calendario manual y guia de forasteros en Madrid para el año de 1838. Madrid, Imprenta Nacional [1837]. 12mo. 2 engraved royal portrait plates + [1 blank]f + engraved allegorical title + 164p of text + folding engraved map of Portugal and Spain. Contemporary red calf decorated with elaborate gilt panel designs on both sides, line and ornamental borders, title lettering and ornament gilt-stamped on spine; edges gilt (by Ginesta). € 2.250

Including portraits of Queen Isabella II and the Queen Mother Maria Cristina engraved after the famous paintings by Antonio Maria Esquivel (1806-57).A fine example of a Spanish romantic binding from the workshop of Ginesta, the leading Spanish binder of the period.

MARMOL CARAVAJAL, Luis del. Primera (-segunda) parte de la descripcion general de Affrica, con todos los successos de guerras que a avido entro los infieles, y el pueblo Christiano, y entre ellos mesmos desde que Mahoma inve[n]to su secta, hasta el año del señor mil y quinientos y setenta y uno. Granada, Rene Rabut, 1573. 2 volumes in folio. [8] + 294 + [16]ff; 310 (misnumbered 308) + [8]ff. Large woodcut of royal arms on titles, printer's device at end of both volumes, Red morocco, gilt, with Spanish royal arms in centres of covers. € 14.000

Early Spanish source text on Islamic North Africa, Luis del Marmol Caravajal c1520-1600), born in Granada, was an eye-witness of the punitive expedition against the Muslim corsairs of Tunis led by the Emperor Charles V (1535) in which he took part. He spent some 22 years in North Africa, seven of which as a captive at Fez and Tunis. On his return to Spain Marmol wrote this informed account of the country and its people, the wars between Muslims and Christians, the conflicts within Islam, and the chief historical events up to 1571. With a poem on Africa praising the author written by Hernando de Acuña, the illustrious Spanish poet, who suppressed a mutiny in North Africa on the orders of the Emperor Charles V
Palau 152431 & 152432; Salvá 3356; Heredia 3294; Ticknor, I, 497.

PIZARRO y ORELLANA, Fernando. Varones ilustres del nuevo mundo. Descubridores, conquistadores, y pacificadores del opulento, dilatado, y poderoso imperio de las Indias Occidentales: sus vidas, virtud, valor, hazañas, y claros blasones... con un discurso legal de la obligacion que tienen los reyes a premiar los servicios de sus vassallos … ò en sus descendientes … Madrid, Diego Diaz de la Carrera, 1639. Folio. [18]f + 427 (misnumbered 417) + [1 blank] + 72p + [16]f of index. Contemporary vellum. € 6.850

First edition of this account of the lives and achievements of the great discoverers and conquerors of Spanish America including Christopher Columbus, Alonso de Ojeda, Hernán Cortés, Francisco & Juan Pizarro, Diego de Almagro, Hernán & Gonzalo Pizarro, and Diego García de Paredes, partly based on sources now lost and containing matter not found elsewhere. The author, a descendant of Francisco Pizarro, compiled this work on the glories of the conquest in order to claim grants and rights which he considers his due by lawful inheritance.
Alden & Landis 639/93; JCB (3) II, 276; Leclerc 452; Medina BHA 999; Palau 227687; Sabin 63189; Salvá 63189.

PUENTE, Pedro de la. Los Soldados en la Guardia. Dividido en quatro discursos, con unos apuntamientos politicos al ultimo dellos. Pavia, Juan Andres Magro, 1657. 4to. [4]f + 461 + [1]p. + last leaf with printer’s device and imprint. With finely engraved allegorical frontispiece folding engraving preceding title. Contemporary deerskin blind-tooled with line borders and cartouches; spine lightly wormed in places. € 3.500

A philosophical discourse on the trials and advantages of military life arranged in four books composed in elegant prose. The author, a Spanish colonel, and acting castellan of the fortress of Pavia, develops his narrative whilst following a group of soldiers on an imaginary journey through Spain stopping at Barcelona, Valencia, and Tarragona. The volume ends with an appendix of political maxims. The dedication is to Don Luis Mendez de Haro, Soto Mayor y Guzman, Duke of Olivares.
Palau 240585 (lacking frontispiece); Vindel 2.297; not in British Library.

RIBADENEYRA, Pedro de. (S. J.) Vida del P. Ignacio de Loyola, fundador de la Religion de la Compañia de Jesus. Escripta en Latin... y aora nuevamente traduzida en Romance, y añadida por el mismo Autor. Madrid, Alonso Gomez, 1583. 4to. [17] + 304 + [8] leaves. Printer’s device with Jesuit emblem on title. Contemporary vellum; gilt double line borders. € 4.500

First edition in Spanish of the celebrated life of St Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), founder and first General of the Jesuit Order. This Spanish version contains additional material included by the biographer not present in the Latin text first published Naples, 1572. The work contains extensive references to the Jesuit overseas missions in Brazil and Japan.
Alden & Landis 583/62; De Backer-Sommervogel VI, 1726; Palau 266222.

SAAVEDRA FAJARDO, Diego de. Idea de un principe christiano representada en cien empresas. Antwerp, Jérôme & Jean Baptiste Verdussen, 1655. 4to. [10]f including engraved title + 792p. With 102 large engraved emblems by Johann Sadeler. Near-contemporary calf, spine decorated in gilt; worn. € 2.850

An emblematic discourse on how to become an ideal Christian ruler in dealings with his subjects and foreign governments, conceived as a schoolbook for the Infante Balthasar, son of Philip IV of Spain. Each chapter is illustrated with an allegorical device bearing on the subject matter. The book enjoyed immense popularity in the 17th century. Diego de Saavedra Fajardo (1584-1648) studied law at Salamanca, became a Knight of Santiago at the ago of 22, and served the Spanish government as a member of the Council of the Indies in 1646.
Palau 283446; Peeters-Fontainas II, 1152; see also Praz pp191-192.