HISTOIRE ADMIRABLE DES HORRIBLES INSOLENCES, CRUAUTEZ, & TYRANNIES EXERCEES PAR LES ESPAGNOLS ES INDES OCCIDENTALES.FIDELEMENT TRADUITE PAR JAQUES DE MIGGRODE.

Las Casas, Bartolomé de:

Published by [Geneva: Gabriel Cartier], 1582.

About this Item

Las Casas, the first great historian of the New World, arrived in Cuba in 1502 and spent most of the ensuing years in the Caribbean and Mexico until his return to Spain in 1547. An early critic of Spanish policy, he nonetheless rose to be Bishop of Chiapas. He witnessed firsthand the appalling destruction of the American Indian population at the hands of the Spanish, something he continually fought against as a priest. After his return to Spain and throughout his old age, he launched a series of attacks on Spanish policy towards American Indians. The first and most influential of these tracts is BREVISSIMA RELACION DE LA DESTRUYCION DE LAS INDIAS, which describes the numerous wrongs inflicted upon the Indians, mainly in the Antilles. Written in 1539, it was first published in Seville in 1552, and editions in French, English, and German appeared before 1600. The present work is one of two French editions printed in 1582, following the initial 1579 Antwerp publication of this French translation by Jacques Miggrode. As with many later editions published outside Spain, this printing helped promote Protestant attacks on the Spanish Crown, perpetuating the "Black Legend" of Spanish destruction of the Indians. A rare French translation of Las Casas' most famous work on the Indies. EUROPEAN AMERICANA records five U.S. locations plus the Bibliothèque Nationale. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 582/23. SABIN 11268. MEDINA, BHA 1085n (Vol. II, p.471). PALAU 46961n. JCB (3)I:291. [16],222pp. 12mo. 18th-century calf, spine and board edges finely gilt, rebacked with original backstrip preserved. Binding slightly worn. Occasional minor foxing, light age toning. A very good copy.

Seller Inventory # 37351

Bibliographic Details

• Title: HISTOIRE ADMIRABLE DES HORRIBLES INSOLENCES, CRUAUTEZ, & TYRANNIES EXERCEES PAR LES ESPAGNOLS ES INDES OCCIDENTALES.FIDELEMENT TRADUITE PAR JAQUES DE MIGGRODE.
• Publisher: [Geneva: Gabriel Cartier], 1582.