THEVET, Andre

by Andre Thevet

£13,500 · Offered by Sokol Books

First edition of the Italian translation by Giuseppe Horologgi of Les Singularitez de la France Antarctique, first published at Paris in 1557, a most important first hand account of Thevet s journey to Brazil. Thevet, a Franciscan, accompanied Villegagnon on a French expedition in 1555 to establish a colony on the coast of Brazil. This important narrative of that unsuccessful venture contains one of the earliest descriptions of tobacco and its use by the Indians, as well as descriptions of Peru, Cuba, and Canada, the latter account derived from Jacques Cartier. Giolito reissued this translation in 1584. An English translation appeared in 1568. Thevet s first travels occurred in about 1550, when he accompanied the Cardinal Jean de Lorraine on a journey into Italy and the Mediterranean basin. His experience as a traveler attracted the attention of Nicolas Durand, Chevalier de Villegagnon, who was preparing to found a colony in what is today Brazil. He asked Thevet to accompany the expedition as its confessor. Thevet fell ill during the voyage and had to return to France after only ten weeks in Brazil. Using his own observations, however, combined with information gained from other travellers, Thevet quickly produced his Singularitez de la France Antarctique on his return. Thevet writes here in detail of that attempt to form a colony, and includes vivid descriptions of the manners and customs of the natives whom he met. It seems probable, however, that his accounts of North Amer

• Binding: Hardcover

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