Mémoires philosophiques, historiques, physiques, concernant la découverte de l'Amérique : ses anciens habitans, leurs mœurs, leurs usages, leur connexion avec les nouveaux habitans, leur religion ancienne & moderne, les produits des

2 volumes: 576+xv pages; 499+xv pages. Octavo (8 3/4" x 5 1/2") bound in 3/4 period leather. Translated from the first German edition (1781) which includes a chapter entitled: "Observations and additions to by Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider". Translated with additional notes and reviews by Jean Baptiste Lefebvre Villebrune. First Spanish edition published in 1772 (Madrid). (Sabin 36805) First French edition.

Antonio de Ulloa (12 January 1716 – 3 July 1795) was a Spanish general, explorer, author, astronomer, colonial administrator and the first Spanish governor of Louisiana. He was born in Seville, the son of an economist. Ulloa entered the navy in 1733. In 1735 he was appointed with fellow Spaniard Jorge Juan a member of the French Geodesic Mission, a scientific expedition which the French Academy of Sciences was sending to Ecuador to measure a degree of meridian arc at the equator, led by Pierre Bouguer. He remained there from 1736 to 1744, during which time the two Spaniards discovered the element platinum. In 1745, having finished their scientific labors, Ulloa and Jorge Juan prepared to return to Spain, agreeing to travel on different ships in order to minimize the danger of losing the important fruits of their labors. The ship upon which Ulloa was traveling was captured by the British, and he was taken as a prisoner to England. In that country, through his scientific attainments, he gained the friendship of the men of science, and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. In a short time, through the influence of the president of this society, he was released and was able to return to Spain. He published an account of the people and the countries they have met (1748), which was translated into English as A Voyage to South America. He became prominent as a scientist and was appointed to serve on various important scientific commissions. He is to be credited with the establishment of the first museum of natural history, the first metallurgical laboratory in Spain, and the observatory of Cadiz. In 1758 he returned to South America as governor of Huancavelica in Peru and the general manager of the quicksilver mines there. He held this position until 1764. He arrived on 5 March 1766 in New Orleans to serve as the first Spanish governor of West Louisiana. The French colonists refused to recognize Spanish rule, and de Ulloa was expelled from Louisiana by a Creole uprising during the Louisiana Rebellion of 1768. For the remainder of his life he served as a naval officer. In 1779 he became lieutenant-general of the naval forces. As a result of his scientific work in Peru, he published (Madrid, 1784) Relación histórica del viaje á la América Meridional, which contains a full, accurate, and clear description of the greater part of South America geographically, and of its inhabitants and natural history. In collaboration with the Jorge Juan mentioned above, he also wrote Noticias secretas de América, giving valuable information regarding the early religious orders in Spanish America.

Condition:

Sever worming to spines, exterior hinges cracked, point chipped, library stamps to title pages else a good copy of a scarce item.