Nouveau Voyage aux Isles de l'Amerique, [SIX VOLUME SET] contenant L'Histoire Naturelle de ces Pays, l'Origine, le Moeurs, la Religion & le Gouvernement des Habitans anciens & modernes. Les Guerres & les Evenemens singuliers qui y sont arrivez pendant le long sejour que l'Auteur y a fait. Le Commerce & les Manufactures qui y sont etablies, & les moyens de les augmenter. Avec une Description exacte & curieuse de toutes ces Isles. Ouvrage enrichi de plus de cent Cartes, Plans, & Figures en Tailles - douches.

Paris: Chez Theodore la Gras, 1722. First Edition First Printing . Leather Bound. Very Good. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. 12mos. xxxvi, [8], 525; [6], 598; vi, 549; vi, 558; vi, 524; vi, 514, [14] pages. Collates complete with 102 plates and maps, many folding. INCLUDES THE FOLDING MAP OF NORTH AMERICA WITH CALIFORNIA AS AN ISLAND. Hardcovers rebound in mid-20th century full brown leather with titles on the spine in gilt. Light wear to the bindings. New endpapers, but the old endpapers are preserved. Title pages in black and red. Each title page has an inkstamp noting "Case 45 / Shelf B". Occasional tears or chips at the top edges of the pages near the gutter at the front. In Volume I, there is a tear and crease at the fore edge of page 15 and a tear running into the text on the leaf for pages 391-392. Browning to some of the plates in Volume IV. Otherwise the plates are generally in quite good condition. Plates as follows: Vol. I: 3 Maps & Plans (including North America w/ California as an island), plus 19 plates (9 of these folding); Vol. II: 1 Map and 20 plates, including 3 folding; Vol. III: 31 plates, including 16 folding; Vol. IV: 3 Maps & plans, and 10 plates, including 2 folding; Vol. V: 2 Maps & plans, and 4 plates; Vol VI: 1 map/plan and 8 plates, including 1 folding. All together: 10 maps & plans and 92 copperplate engravings, with 31 of those folding. Sabin [38409] notes that there were three editions in 1722; the first editions were published by Pierre-Francois Giffart and with some bearing the Theodore la Gras imprint. Jean-Baptist Labat (1663-1738) was a French clergyman who was also a botanist, explorer, ethnographer, and writer who went to the West Indies in 1693. He stayed in the region, principally on Martinique and Guadalupe, partaking in agricultural, engineering and defense work. He was a keen observer of the indigenous population as well as the slave trade and owned some slaves himself. He returned to Europe in 1706 and worked on his intimate history of the region, completing it in 1722. Some of the work was a bit scandalous for the times. It is said that some of the Creoles destroyed as many of the first edition as they could, as the work contained local gossip and accounts of interracial relationships. The first map in Volume I ("Carte Particuliere du Golphe de Mexique et des Antisles") is highly prized as it shows California as an island. The bindings of the books measure 6 7/8 inches tall by 4 1/4 inches wide. The 10 3/4 inches wide and 6 1/2 inches tall (paper) or 9 1/2 inches wide by 5 1/2 inches tall (images). [Sabin 38409]