Memorias historicas, geograficas e politicas observadas de Pariz a Lisboa.

Lisbon, Officina de Ignacio Rodrigues, 1746.. FIRST EDITION. 4°, contemporary speckled sheep (minor wear), spine richly gilt in five compartments, citron leather lettering piece, gilt letter. Title printed in red and black with engraved vignette. Engraved headpieces and initials. Light browning. Overall in very good to fine condition. Engraved portrait, (20 ll.), 323 pp., (3 ll.). *** FIRST EDITION of these notes on the author's journey from Paris to Lisbon, with interesting historical and political observations. Pages 154-202 describe the marriage of Louis XV to Maria Leszczynska, daughter of the exiled King of Poland, with the speeches made by everyone from ambassadors to town officials, and the gifts presented to the royal couple as they made their way through France. The author (b. 1704 in Lisbon) visited Amboise, Bayonne (pp. 268-78 describe Bayonne and the author's journey over the Pyrenees), Paris, Chartres and several other cities in France, and the Escorial, Badajoz, Madrid, Merida, Pamplona and other cities in Spain.Aucourt e Padilha (b. 1704) was Secretario da Meza do Desembargo do Paço. His other published works include Raridades da natureza, e da arte (Lisbon, 1759) and several pamphlets criticizing popular beliefs in superstitions and prophecies, particularly those relating to the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. *** Innocêncio VI, 436 (calling for only 38 preliminary leaves - missing the half title?); XVIII, 246: "escrevendo … a sua jornada por terra de Paris a Lisboa, foi o primeiro que tal assumpto tractou, e o fez com muita curiosidade, dando noticias historicas e politicas que ainda hoje podem ser lidas com algum interesse." Barbosa Machado III, 604. Duarte de Sousa I, 530. Holmes, Rarest Books in the Oliveira Lima Collection 137. Grande enciclopédia III, 705: does not cite this work. Porbase locates 7 copies at the Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal and 1 each at the Biblioteca Central da Marinha and the Universidade Católica Portuguesa-Biblioteca João Paulo II. Jisc repeats British Library and Oxford University. NUC: ICN.