Laudonnière, Rene Goulaine de:

$200 · Offered by William Reese Company

L'HISTOIRE NOTABLE DE LA FLORIDE SITUEE ES INDES OCCIDENTALES, CONTENANT LES TROIS VOYAGES FAITS EN ICELLE PAR CERTAINS CAPITAINES ET PILOTES FRANCOIS, DESCRITS PAR LE CAPITAINE LAUDONNIERE, QUI Y A ... From an edition of 100 copies, according to Servies. First published in 1586, Laudonnière's narrative is one of the first works devoted entirely to Florida, describing the abortive attempt to establish a French colony there in the 1560s and the colony's ruthless extermination by the Spanish. M. Basanier compiled the narratives of four separate French expeditions: Ribault's voyage of 1562, Laudonnière's voyage of 1564, Ribault's second voyage of 1565, and Gourges' voyage of 1567. The first three voyages are presented in the form of letters by Laudonnière, while the account of Gourges' voyage is unsigned, possibly having been prepared by Basanier. Some copies are found with a thirty-one page "Catalogue de la Bibliotheque Elzevirienne," not present in this copy. The 1586 edition is a rarity and a very expensive book (the last copy we sold was $125,000); this is an obtainable edition of a fundamental work on early Florida.

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