1788, William Robertson, The history of America, 3 vols.

Condition : good, corners slightly bumed, slight scuffing, slightly browned, slight scattered foxing, vol. 1 outer hinges partly cracked, small trace of moisture to first board, vol. 2 front hinge split over 2 cm, vol. 3 small loss to upper end of spine, maps with small folding marks, 3 maps with small lateral tears, one map with a tear over about 20 cm (restored). Overall a fine copy.
Illustrations : 4 maps and one engraved folding plate.
Binding : contemporary full leather, spines gilt.
Volume : 3 volumes.
Format : in-8.
Pages : XLVI, 388 pp; 2 ff, 499 pp and 2 ff, 439 pp, 20 ff (A-A8, a - b8, B - Z8, Aa - Bb8, Cc2; ()2, B - Z8, Aa - Ii8, Kk2 and ()2, B - Z8, Aa - Hh8)
Publisher : London, A. Strahant, T. Cadell and J. Balfour.
Date : 1788.
References : Sabin 71973.

First published in 1777 in English (just one year after the declaration of independence of the United States of America), this work by William Robertson (1721-1793), principal of the University of Edinburgh and her Majesty's historiographer for Scotland, deals with the discovery of America, as well as the conquest of Mexico and Peru and the anthropology of indigenous American cultures. Robertson has been praised for his rigorous work with bibliographic sources. The first volume contains an interesting catalogue of the Spanish books and manuscripts that Robertson cites in this history.
The four folding engraved maps show the Gulf of Mexico (33 x 49 cm) with Florida and New Orleans and the Caribbean islands, South America (46 x 33 cm), Mexico (30 x 39 cm) and the north-western part of South America (39 x 25 cm), the folding engraved plate shows the chronology of the Mexicans (27 x 24,5 cm).