La découverte des Indes Occidentales par les Espagnols. Ecrite par Dom Balthazar [sic] de Las-Casas, Evêque de Chiapa. Dédié à Monseigneur le Comte de Toulouse

First edition of this French translation prepared by Abbé J.B. Morvan de Bellegarde, who here renders six of the nine books of the celebrated Brevissima relación by Las Casas, first published in Seville in 1552 (cf. Sabin 11273. Medina BHA 1085n. Streit I:733. Palau 46966. JCB (4) 344-345. Leclerc 337. "European Americana" 697/33).

Contemporary full marbled calf binding, spine gilt in compartments with decorative tooling, red morocco label, gilt rolls to head and tail caps, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, gilt fillets to board edges, red edges.

Minor repairs to joints, discreet restoration in the inner margin of the frontispiece.

A handsome copy.

Las Casas wrote this text in 1549 to defend himself against accusations from Spanish colonizers following his advocacy on behalf of the Indigenous peoples. In this impassioned denunciation, he condemns the colonial system introduced in the Indies by the Spanish, a system founded entirely on violence and plunder. The publication caused considerable stir in Spain and led to the abolition of the encomiendas—a land allocation system which, under the guise of converting and assisting the natives, legalized one of the most brutal forms of slavery. From a historical perspective, this work stands at the origin of the concept of the "noble savage", which, through missionary apologetics, would inspire the primitivist movement that ultimately gave rise—within Rousseau's thought—to a return to nature and to the new moral, political, and aesthetic sensibilities of the 19th century. Cf. Dict. des œuvres.

Las Casas wrote this text in 1549 to defend himself against accusations from Spanish colonizers following his advocacy on behalf of the Indigenous peoples. In this impassioned denunciation, he condemns the colonial system introduced in the Indies by the Spanish, a system founded entirely on violence and plunder. The publication caused considerable stir in Spain and led to the abolition of the encomiendas—a land allocation system which, under the guise of converting and assisting the natives, legalized one of the most brutal forms of slavery. From a historical perspective, this work stands at the origin of the concept of the "noble savage", which, through missionary apologetics, would inspire the primitivist movement that ultimately gave rise—within Rousseau's thought—to a return to nature and to the new moral, political, and aesthetic sensibilities of the 19th century. Cf. Dict. des œuvres.