MŒURS DES SAUVAGES AMERIQUAINS, COMPARÉES AUX MOEURS DES PREMIERS TEMPS

Paris: Saugrain and Charles Estienne Hochereau, 1724.. Two volumes. [8],610pp. plus twenty-one plates including frontispiece and map; [26],490,[41]pp. plus twenty-two plates. Quarto. Contemporary calf, gilt, stamped with the arms of the House of Chimay on both covers, spines gilt extra, leather labels. Extremities lightly worn, some scuffing to covers, head and foot of spine chipped. Bookplate on front pastedowns. Very minor scattered foxing. Very good. A detailed account of the customs, manners, and religion of indigenous Americans. The work focuses mainly on the First Nations of Canada, with over thirty pages of the second volume devoted to the language of the Hurons. The author was a Jesuit missionary among the Iroquois at Sault St. Louis. "An extraordinary summation of seventeenth century knowledge of the life and society of the American Indian. Lafitau's comparison of Indian societies with ancient Asian societies was an attempt to demonstrate the Asian origin of the American Indian" - Streeter. The plates are particularly notable and depict games, dances, ceremonies, and costumes. Some of the plates are based on De Bry or earlier sources, while others were newly engraved for this work.

An essential Americanum. The Streeter copy sold to an order bid for $250 in 1966. FIELD 850. SABIN 38596. BORBA DE MORAES, p.453. PILLING, PROOF-SHEETS 2168. LANDE 494. HOWES L22, "b." JCB (3)I:345. STREETER SALE 121. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 724/97. STREIT III:1359. LeCLERC 815.