Lot 37
£693
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs
Auction: 8 February 2023 at 10:00 GMT
De la traduction de Nicolas Perrot sieur d'Ablancourt [ ... Histoire des Cherifs, et des royaumes de Maroc, de Fez, de Tarudant, et autres proveinces. Traduite de l'Espagnol de Diégo de Torrés]. Paris: Thomas Jolly, 1667. 3 volumes, 4to (23.4 x 18cm), contemporary panelled calf, rebacked and relined, 28 engraved folding maps by Nicolas Sanson (including Arabia, Persia, the Caucasus, Anatolia, Hungary, Greece, Italy, France, Spain, India and Madagascar in addition to Africa and regions of Africa), half-titles to volume 2 and 3 only, volume 2 without general title-page, pp. [16] 532 [16], [16] 578 [50], [8] 304 [24] [16] 226 [10], signatures aeio4 A-3Y4, pi1 (=i2?, possibly a section-title bound as half-title) a4 i1 e2 e1 A-4I4 4K2 (i.e. prelims misbound), a4 (a1 blank) A-2S2 *-2*4 (*1 blank) a-2f4 2g4 (ff. e1-2, with e2 incorrectly signed o1, transposed and misbound at rear between 2S1 and 2S2), volume 2 with small worm-track to gutter of prelims, volume 3 with variable damp-staining to first half
Note: First editions in French of two classic early modern Spanish works on Africa and the Maghrib; Marmol's work originally published between 1573 and 1599 as Descripción general de Africa, while Torres's Histoire des cherifs, printed at the end of the third volume, appeared in 1586. 'Luis del Marmol Carvajal left his home in 1535 to fight in the African Regiments with the Hapsburg [emperor] Charles V. A short time thereafter he was captured by corsairs off the coast of Tunis … It was as the prisoner of the Sa’di sultan [of Morocco] Ahmad al-A’raj that Marmol came to Marrakesh … When he was finally ransomed, Marmol chose to remain in Africa, improving the Arabic he had learned during his imprisonment … He returned to Spain to begin writing his work sometime around 1570. Diego de Torres arrived in Marrakesh in 1546 charged with ransoming captives in the name of the Portuguese king. He remained there until 1550, possibly overlapping with Marmol’s period of captivity. Like Marmol, Torres also learned Arabic, and was mostly on good terms with the new sultan, Muhammad al-Shaykh' (Gottreich, The Mellah of Marrakesh, 2007, p. 14).
Provenance: Gaddesden Place, Hertfordshire, seat of the Halsey family, with bookplates.