Paris, chez Jean de Heuqueuville, 1630.
8vo of (10) ll., full-page portrait of Béthencourt, 208 pp., (6) ll. Preserved in its contemporary vellum binding, flat spine with handwritten title, red mottled edges. Contemporary binding.
178 x 113 mm.
Fine copy of this account of the conquest of the Canary Islands, of extreme rarity.
Unique edition of this text recounting the conquest of the Canary Islands by Jean de Béthencourt in 1402.
“A sought-after work” (Brunet, I, 832).
Béthencourt, a Norman from Grainville in the Caux region, embarked in 1402 for La Rochelle, then Spain before sailing towards the Canary Islands with two ships. The work details, through short chapters, each stage of the journey and the conquest of the archipelago by the intrepid adventurer.
“The expedition led by Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de La Salle in 1402 to the Canary Islands has been the subject of numerous comments since the publication by Pierre Bergeron of the manuscript attributed to Jean V de Béthencourt in 1630, called since manuscript B, or ‘Montruffet.’ The discovery by Pierre Margry of manuscript G (or ‘Egerton’) and its publication in 1896 deeply renewed the vision of this expedition. Léopold Delisle quickly demonstrated the precedence of the Gadifer manuscript, whose text was taken up and transformed by the author of manuscript B to highlight the role of Jean de Béthencourt and place Gadifer in the background. The two manuscripts therefore offer two points of view on an expedition that leaves La Rochelle in May 1402 for the Canary Islands to conquer them. Rapidly, however, the lack of resources leads Béthencourt to seek help from the king of Castile, leaving Gadifer alone in the Canary Islands for more than eighteen months. During this time, the latter explores the archipelago but must face the revolt of some of his companions. After Béthencourt’s return to the Canary Islands in April 1404, the two men complete the conquest of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, but Gadifer, feeling betrayed by Béthencourt, who had obtained the title of lord of the islands from the king of Castile, decides to abandon the expedition and returns permanently to France. Shortly after, Béthencourt returns to Normandy to recruit settlers, peasants, and artisans, whom he settles in the Canary Islands in May 1405. In December 1405, he returns to Normandy, leaving his nephew, Maciot, on site.”
A very fine engraved portrait of the explorer faces the first chapter. It is titled at the bottom “the true portrait of Sir Jean de Béthencourt, King of the Canaries. Bathazar Moncornet-Fecit.” The Norman adventurer is depicted frontally, in armor, a cape on his shoulders, and wearing a spiked hat. At the top left is his coat of arms, and to his right, a window opens onto a countryside landscape.
Perfectly preserved copy in its contemporary vellum binding, of this remarkable work unknown to many bibliophiles due to its extreme rarity.
