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A Natural and Civil History of California: Containing an accurate Description of that Country…The Customs of the Inhabitants...Together with Accounts of the several Voyages and Attempts made for settling California...Translated from the original Spanish of Miguel Venegas, a Mexican Jesuit, published at Madrid 1758 [sic.]..

A Natural and Civil History of California: Containing an accurate Description of that Country…The Customs of the Inhabitants...Together with Accounts of the several Voyages and Attempts made for settling California...Translated from the original Spanish of Miguel Venegas, a Mexican Jesuit, published at Madrid 1758 [sic.]..

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A Natural and Civil History of California: Containing an accurate Description of that Country…The Customs of the Inhabitants...Together with Accounts of the several Voyages and Attempts made for settling California...Translated from the original Spanish of Miguel Venegas, a Mexican Jesuit, published at Madrid 1758 [sic.]..

by Venegas, Miguel

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  • Hardcover
  • first
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About This Item

London: Printed for James Rivington and James Fletcher, 1759 First edition in English of the first history of California, which "gave the English-speaking world its earliest thorough account of the little-known areas of the west coast of North America," (Hill). The original Spanish edition was published in 1757. . Contemporary tree calf neatly rebacked to style preserving the original red and green spine labels. Spine stamped in gilt and with raised bands. Two volumes, octavo. With four engraved plates (including both frontispieces) and a folding map of Baja California. The plates in volume one are "Women of California" and "Men of California" (frontispiece); plus "The Cayote or Fox" and "The Taye or California Deer." The plates in volume two are "The Manner of Curing the Sick in California" and "Sorcerers of California" (frontispiece); plus "The Martyrdom of Father Carranco" and "The Martyrdom of Father Tamaral." Some rubbing to extremities and some light chipping to lower board of volume two. Bookplate of Pacific Voyages collector Kenneth E. Hill on front pastedown and contemporary ink signature to front flyleaf of volume one. Two small contemporary ink signatures to both title-pages. Fresh throughout despite some light offsetting and some toning to last few leaves of volume two. A very good, tight example of the most important early work on Baja California. "First attempt at a history of California. Based, by the anonymous editor, Father Andrés Marcos Burriel, on Venegas's 1739 MS., but incorporating information from other sources," (Cowan). Wagner states that it "contains more on Lower California than almost any other book that had been published in one hundred and fifty years." Cowan considers this work to be "the foundation of a library of Californiana."

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Details

Bookseller
Michael R. Thompson, Booksellers, ABAA/ILAB US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
16912
Title
A Natural and Civil History of California: Containing an accurate Description of that Country…The Customs of the Inhabitants...Together with Accounts of the several Voyages and Attempts made for settling California...Translated from the original Spanish of Miguel Venegas, a Mexican Jesuit, published at Madrid 1758 [sic.]..
Author
Venegas, Miguel
Format/Binding
Contemporary tree calf neatly rebacked to style preserving the original red and green spine labels. Spine stamped in gilt and wi
Book Condition
Used
Quantity Available
1
Edition
First edition in English of the first history of California, whi
Binding
Hardcover
Publisher
Printed for James Rivington and James Fletcher,
Place of Publication
London:
Date Published
1759
Size
Two volumes, octavo
Weight
0.00 lbs
Note
May be a multi-volume set and require additional postage.

Terms of Sale

Michael R. Thompson, Booksellers, ABAA/ILAB

CWO Visa, MC , American Express, Discover SHipping: $12.00 1st ordinary-sized book within the U.S., at cost for others. Our normal method of shipping within the U.S. is U.P.S. International orders shipped at cost; please inquire about costs of air and surface shipment. All books guaranteed as described. Items returnable within ten days if the customer is dissatisfied; please phone or e-mail first. Customers are encouraged to e-mail us with any questions before ordering.

About the Seller

Michael R. Thompson, Booksellers, ABAA/ILAB

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2006
Los Angeles, California

About Michael R. Thompson, Booksellers, ABAA/ILAB

Our office is located in Los Angeles on West Third Street, between the Beverly Center and Farmer's Market. Though we gave up an open shop after more than thirty years, we welcome serious customers and dealers. We are normally open from 10 to 6 Monday through Saturday. Since some of our less expensive books are located in a temperature-controlled storage area offsite, you may want to call ahead of time to insure that the book you want to see will be available. We feature a stock strong in literature, history, Western philosophy, women's studies, education, history of science and fine printing and artists' books. We are members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. We have books from the 15th to the 20th century in all prices ranges. We do appraisals for income tax and insurance purposes. We purchase individual books and libraries. Proprietor: Carol Sandberg

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Leaves
Very generally, "leaves" refers to the pages of a book, as in the common phrase, "loose-leaf pages." A leaf is a single sheet...
Gilt
The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
Calf
Calf or calf hide is a common form of leather binding. Calf binding is naturally a light brown but there are ways to treat the...
Spine
The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
Raised Band(s)
Raised bands refer to the ridges that protrude slightly from the spine on leather bound books. The bands are created in the...
Rebacked
having had the material covering the spine replaced. ...
Tight
Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
Bookplate
Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
First Edition
In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Octavo
Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
Chipping
A defect in which small pieces are missing from the edges; fraying or small pieces of paper missing the edge of a paperback, or...
Rubbing
Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.

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