Delle Navigationi et Viaggi raccolte da M. Gio. Battista Ramusio, in tre volumi divise... Volume primo [Secondo volume...; ...Volume terzo]

by RAMUSIO, Giovanni Battista (1485-1557)

Price: $47,500.00
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Venice: appresso i Giunti, 1613-1583-1606. 3 volumes, folio. (12 x 8 2/3 inches). 10 folding or double-page maps and plans (3 engraved, 7 wood-cut). Near uniform early 17th-century vellum over pasteboard, text block with 'S. Antonio' lettered in ink in an early calligraphic hand on upper edges and 'M. Calvo' on the lower edges. A fine set of this highly important compilation of world voyages: vol.I with the most complete form of the text and vols. II and III being the first publication of the most complete form of the text. This work should be one of the cornerstones of any collection of travel books The sixth edition of the first volume, and the third edition of the second and third volumes of this fundamental collection of world voyages. The first editions of these three volumes appeared between 1550 and 1556. The number of accounts of voyages included in the compilation was increased in each of the first three editions. Therefore, the second and third volumes in the present set are particularly desirable as they include not only the most complete form of the text but also the first publication of a number of important voyages. The first volume is a textual reprint of the third edition (published in 1563), and thus includes the text in its most complete form. Ramusio's effort is the first general compilation of narratives of the European exploration of the rest of the world. From John Locke to Henry Harrisse, scholars and bibliographers have praised Ramusio for his choice of material, his care and accuracy in presenting it, and his assiduous sorting of the evidence of the new discoveries. The first editions or first available editions of many of the most important voyages are contained herein, and the set is basic to any collection of voyages. The first volume is devoted to Africa and the East, especially the narratives of early Portuguese exploration, covering De Gama, Alvarez, Barros, and Pigafetta. The maps in the first volume are some of the first engraved maps to appear in any travel book. The second volume describes the journeys of Marco Polo, Varthema's eastern travels, and Persian voyages. This is the first edition of the second volume to include an account of Sebastian Cabot. The third volume is entirely devoted to America, and includes accounts of Peter Martyr, Oviedo (whose book XX occupies almost half the volume), Cortès, Cabeça de Vaca, Guzman, Ulloa, Coronado, Fray Marcos di Niza, Xerez, Verrazano, and Cartier. The final section on New France is particularly notable, being an early general publication of Cartier's Canadian experiences. Ramusio's maps are particularly important. The western hemisphere map in the third volume, the product of a collaboration between Ramusio and Oviedo, is the most complete one of its time, even showing Japan as more than one island. The Newfoundland and Hochelanga maps, resulting from Cartier's explorations, are the best early Canadian maps. The same can be said about the Brazil map. Adams R-139; Borba de Moraes pp.698-99; Church 99; Cox p.28; European Americana 613/108, 583/59, 606/88; Sabin 67735, 67738, 67742; Streit I:337, I:143, I:282

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