Description des Indes Occidentales, qu'on appelle aujourdhuy le Nouveau Monde (Description of the West Indies, which we call today the New World)

Artist or Author: Antoine de Herrera

Work: Description des Indes Occidentales, qu'on appelle aujourdhuy le Nouveau Monde (

Date of Publication: 1622

Style: Engraving

Paper Size: ~11 1/2 by 8"

Condition: The work is in very good to excellent condition. There is some faint image offset on some of the plates from the work. There is occasionally faint toning with some mottled spots to the paper. There may be a few minor imperfections to be expected with age. Page 225/226 is missing a large chunk from the bottom corner of the page; this does not effect the text on the page. The title has been reattached and the spine has been redone. Please review the image carefully for condition and contact us with any questions.

Description of the work: This volume with 17 engraved maps is Antonio de Herrera's Description des Indes Occidentales, qu'on appelle aujourdhuy le Nouveau Monde translated Description of the West Indies, which we call today the New World.  This is the French edition of the work published in 1622 in Amsterdam by Emanuel Colin, and sold in Paris by Michel Soly.  The first edition of the work was published in 1601 in Spanish, entitled Description de las indias ocidentales de antonio de herrera coronista mayor de magdellas indias y su coronista de castilla.

There are 17 engraved maps, engraved frontispiece, and in text illustrations.  The volume is bound in contemporary fawn calf, double gilt fillet.  Modern raised bands on the spine, old pieces decorated with the double crowned G monogram of Gaston d'Orleans.  The work includes Herrera's Desciption of the Indies, Jacques le Maire's Journal and Mirror of Southern Navigation, Pedro Ordonnes de Cevallos' Particular Description of the West Indies, and Petrus Bertius' Description of America, Which Is The New World.

Antonio de Herrara y Tordesillas (1549-1625/1626) was a chronicler, historian, and writer of the Spanish Golden Age. He was the chief chronicler of the Castile and the Americas during the reigns of Philip II and Philip III. He is considered the most prolific historian of his era. In addition to being a historian, he also worked to translate works from and into Spanish.

Provenance:: From the library Gaston d'Orleans, brother of King Louis XIII of France (evidenced by the crowned monogram on the spine of the book) "The Duke of Orléans possessed two libraries, one in Paris at the Luxembourg Palace, the second in Blois, both of which were considerable; the volumes were almost all bound in tawny calfskin, except for a few which were covered in red or pale purple morocco." (OHR, pl. 2560, tool no. 5)