Histoire des Guerres Civiles des Espagnols dans les Indes

[VEGA, Garcilaso de la]. Histoire des Guerres Civiles des Espagnols dans les Indes ... par l'Ynca Garci Lasso de la Vega. [Translated from the Spanish by Jean] Baudoin. Paris: Simeon Piget, 1658. 4to. 1st French ed. [30], 631pp. and [17]pp. index. Engraved title page, engraved device on printed title page, engraved initals and headpieces. Beautiful 19th century 1/4-flame calf and marbled paper covered boards, with raised bands, gilt lettered morocco spine label, and elaborate gilt decorations on spine panels. Engraved title page closely trimmed at top; light to moderate, mostly marginal damping; still a very good copy in a handsome binding. From the same sheets as the first French edition of 1650. Very scarce. The work is usually found with a translation of Historia general del Peru (Cordova, 1617). However, the translator apparently intended that the present volume, which bears its own index, should be able to stand on its own. The two volumes are assigned separate numbers in the JCB catalogue (III; 658/68 and 658/69, respectively). An important, early account of the Spanish conquest of the Incas. The author was "the son of one of the conquerors of Peru, Garcilaso de la Vega, by the daughter of the Inca Huallpa Tupac, and sister of Huayna Capac Inca, the last native monarch of Peru. He was so proud of both paternal and maternal origin, that while he assumed the Spanish name of the first, he was careful to assert his Incarial descent. He was evidently a gentleman of refinement, and possessed of much more learning than was usually acquired by the conquistadors themselves ... [He] is said by Irving to have conceived such an ardent desire to view the land of his father's nativity, that he abandoned the country of the Incas, and took up his residence at Cordova. His Royal Commentaries of Peru obtained for him the favor of the sovereigns of Leon and Castille, and the esteem of the learned throughout Spain ... He had access to sources of information that no longer exist, such as the manuscript documents and relations of the conquerors, and the quipu records of the Incas ... He had, beside, the most intimate personal relations with some of the great conquerors and commanders, and probably drew confirmation of his researches from their own lips."-- Field, p. 144-45. The "source from which all subsequent writers on the subject have largel.