A Natural History of California: Containing An accurate Description of that Country, Its Soil, Mountains, Harbours, Lakes, Rivers, and Seas; its Animals, Vegetables, Minerals, and famous Fishery for Pearls. The Customs of the Inhabitants, Their Religion, Government, and Manner of Living, before their Conversion to the Christian Religion by the missionary Jesuits. Together with Accounts of the several Voyages and Attempts made for finding California, and taking actual Surveys of that Country, its Gulf, and Coast of the South Sea. Illustrated with Copper Plates, and an accurate Map of the Country and the adjacent Seas. Translated from the original Spanish of Miguel Venegas, a Mexican Jesuit, published at Madrid 1758. In Two Volumes. Vol I [and] Vol II. [complete in the two volumes] by Venegas, Miguel - 1759

London: Printed for James Rivington and James Fletcher, 1759. Good sound set rebacked nicely; all text in English. The Spanish-language Venegas issue is Zamorano 78. Unpaginated preliminaries, 455, 387, folded map and 8 plates recto (all copperplate) on four leaves; textblock is sound and readily handled, and clean, with an occasional foxing trace and small smudges. The map is a crisp bright strike with a couple short closed marginal tears, while the plates, named below, are tepid and a trifle dim. The two volumes are well-matched and recased in all four of the original 8x5 inch polished calf boards, skived gracefully into the much newer calf spines on which the original (somewhat damaged) red leather labels have been laid down. All edges retain the first-issue red tint, though top edges have turned very dark. Hinges are perfectly functional if a little unsightly (endsheets somewhat messy but requiring preservation), One could have wished for filled-in hinge gutters and a better match-up of new and old hides, but the craftsmanship here is plainly very high. Both books bear the steel-engraved armorial bookplate of Sir Joseph Copley Baronet., and ingenious additional ownership notices on circular leather coin-sized "bookplates," a red and a black one, these aligned well with the much larger Copley's. Engraved images as follows: Women of Calif, Men of Calif, Cayote / Fox, Taye / Deer, Curing the Sick, Sorcerers, Martyrdom of Carranco, and of Tamaral.