Conquista de las Islas Malucas

Madrid : Alonso Martin, 1609. Small folio, contemporary limp vellum (somewhat cockled, lacking ties); endpapers sympathetically renewed; engraved title-leaf (expertly re-margined at fore- and bottom edges with penwork in facsimile (including for the imprint, which is folded over at bottom edge – the imprint is commonly lacking); pp. [10], 407 (i.e. 411, as 316-319 are numbered twice); decorative initials, head- and tailpieces; side notes; generally clean and fresh throughout.

First edition of Argensola’s classic early history of the Philippines, the author’s principal work.

‘Few narratives are written with so much judgment and elegance […] One of the most important works for the history of the Philippine islands […] The book also contains matter relating to Sir Francis Drake and American voyages, and to the history of Spanish and Portuguese exploration in the Indies’ (Cox).

‘… an essential work for the history of Spanish and Portuguese exploration in the East Indies’ (Hill).

The Spanish historian Argensola (1562-1631), who had been commissioned by the Council of the Indies to write a comprehensive account of Spanish voyages and discoveries in Asia as well as conflicts with the Dutch and English, had access to all relevant manuscript material in public and private hands, and his account is based on the first-hand descriptions of eyewitness travellers. Although the greater part of the book is devoted to the Philippines and Moluccas, there is also much information on Ceylon, Java, Sumatra, the Celebes and China.

Palau, 16089; Cox I, 284; Pardo de Tavera, 121; Sabin, 1946; Hill, 1006