(1599). LERY (Jean de). HISTOIRE D'UN VOYAGE FAIT EN LA TERR - Lot 421

(1599). LERY (Jean de). HISTOIRE D'UN VOYAGE FAIT EN LA TERRE DU BRESIL, DITE L'AMERIQUE, CONTENANT LA NAVIGATION, & CHOSES REMARQUABLES, VEUËS SUR MER PAR L'AUTHEUR...Avec les figures, revue, corrigée et bien augmentée par l'autheur. (Geneva), for the heirs of Eustache Vignon, 1599. In-8, [72]-478-1bl.-[16] pages, old red morocco, triple gilt fillet on covers, highly ornate ribbed spine, gilt edges (modern binding). The fourth edition, dedicated to the Princess of Orange, is adorned with 8 full-page figures, one of which is repeated, and the famous fold-out plate of the battle between the Topinanbous and the Margalas, which is often missing. In his disclaimer, the author informs us that this fourth edition is further augmented by comparisons between Brazilians and Florida natives. "This book is together the logbook of the mission and the description of the country and its inhabitants.... The pages devoted to fauna and flora make the voyage a monument of language... and constitute a prolegomena for future ethnography" (Y. Peyré in En Français dans le texte n° 70). A fine copy, washed and rebound, in an 18th-century pastiche binding. (CDM, p. 156) (USTC, 34769, 4 copies).