Contributions to a Catalogue of the Lenox Library. Omnibus includes No. 1, 'Voyages of Hulsius etc.' AND No II., 'The Jesuit Relations, etc.' AND No. III. 'The Voyages of Thévenot.' (Three catalogues bound into one)

New York: Printed for the Trustees, 1877 Hard cover, folio, ( measuring 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches) in three quarter black morocco with stone colored paper-covered boards, and gilt rolled along edge of morocco. The spine is in six raised compartments, the titles in gilt. Top edge gilt. (24) (19) (20) pp. Now in mylar. Condition: Good. Losses to leather, boards scuffed. General wear but sound. Some pages are extensively ANNOTATED in pencil by either a prior collector, or possibly by a visitor to the Lenox Library. Moderate age-toning with chipping to fore edge of a few pp. Small closed tear to head of Jesuit's title page. "Binding stamp-signed "MacDonald, New York." This is a rare bibliographical catalogue ( in three parts,) forming a record of one Gilded Age man's remarkable collection of travel books. Part I (from 1877) details the collection of James Lenox's "HULSIANA " travelogues and other rare collected manuscripts chronicling Danish exploration of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Included are: Voyages to the East Indies of the sixteenth century, the Dutch attempt to find a North-East Passage, The Voyage of Ulrich Schmidel to South America, Raleigh's Expedition to Guiana, Voyages of Magellan, Drake, Cavendish and Van Nort, Dutch Discoveries in Guinea, Voyage of the Dutch to the East Indies Under Van Hagen, Ad. Matelief, Ad. Verhuffen, Hudson's Voyage to Find a North West Passage and Hamor's Account of English Settlement in Virginia, John Smith's Account of New England, Coverte's Voyage to Camboja, Shouten's Voyage to the South Sea, Spilbergen's Voyage to the South Sea; Herrera's Account of the West Indies; Samuel Braun's Voyage to the Congo; Accounts of New England, Virginia etc.; Capture of Brazil and the Spanish Fleet by the Dutch; L'Hermite's Voyage Around the World; Breithaupt's Account of the Voyage and Brothers Von Streitberg to Malta; Voyage of Bonteko to the East Indies and China; Brawens and Herckemann's Voyage to Chile; Münk's Attempt to Discover the North West Passage et al. ***Part II Contains Contributions to a Catalogue of The Lenox Library NO. II " JESUIT RELATIONS" (published 1879) These works, in French, Latin and English, concern the travels and explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France (now Canada) in the early seventeenth century. Their reports were used to entice new settlers to the region, and contain reports of their missions among the indigenous people. **Part III contains a catalogue of the Collections of the Lenox Library concerning "The Voyages of Thévenot (dated 1879). Melchisédec Thévenot (c. 1620 - 1692) French Middle East explorer, cartographer and scientist/inventor Other explorers are also referenced. These include: reports on the Eygyptian pyramids; an Account of the Tartars; Hindoustan; the East Indies; Phillipines; Japan; China and more. ***The extensive rare book collection of John Lenox (1800-1880) was housed in the Lenox Library , created in 1870, on Manhattan's Upper East Side. These catalogues were published within the first decade of the library's existence. As a book collector, Lenox spent years in Europe scouring for rare books and manuscripts. Once the whole outgrew his abode, the Lenox Library was established as a non-circulating research institution, and these catalogues were created. Lenox's collection went to the New York Public Library upon its founding in 1895. Sabin refers to Lenox's collection thus: " Mr. Lenox's collection of books relating to America is probably the most valuable library of its kind ever formed in this or any other country. By his generosity it has now become the property of the citizens of New York, and is now known as the Lenox Library." Joseph Sabin, Biblioteca Americana Vol.X, p. 210, (pertaining to item 40041, while not specifically one of the items listed in this catalogue, the comments reference the importance of the collection in general. There were a total of six different catalogue volumes reflecting his different areas of collecting. Scarce to market. (Rare Book Hub lists the most recent sale in 1950.). First Edition. Hard Cover. Good.