Rare Book Monthly

Articles - October - 2012 Issue

An Almost Perfect Crime: Rochefort vs. Du Tertre

Histoire Naturelle & Morale des Iles Antilles de l’Amérique,

No name (Charles de Rochefort),

First edition: À Rotterdam, chez Arnout Leers, 1658.

- 1 vol. in-4°: Frontispiece, title-page, portrait of Jacques Amproux (often missing), epistle (2ff), preface (3ff), to the reader (1ff), 527pp, table (13pp). The natural history goes from pp1 to pp262, the morale one from pp263 to 514, and the Vocabulary, from pp515 to pp527. 42 engravings inserted into the text, including some full page ones. The Dutch bookseller Antiquariaat FORUM BV, who has a copy on sale on Americana Exchange (click here), reminds us that “there are several variants of the first edition, one with the dedicatory epistle signed by C. de Rochefort, one unsigned, and one with an extra line in the impressum : Avec privilège, or Et se vend a Paris, par Antoine Collier.”

Seconde edition : À Rotterdam, chez Arnout Leers, 1665.

No name (Charles de Rochefort),

- 1 vol. in-4° : Frontispiece (the same, with the date at the bottom suppressed), title-page, epistle (11ff), preface (5ff), to the reader (2ff), lettres (6ff), 583pp, table (13pp). The natural history from pp1 to pp278, the moral one from pp279 to pp 570, Vocabulary frome pp571 to pp583. Same engravings as in the first edition but the portrait of Mr Ampoux has been supressed and 3 folding engravings added.

Third edition : - 2 vol. in-12°, À Lyon, 1666.

- Histoire Générale des Antilles habitées par les François,

Du Tertre (Jacques).

A Paris, chez Thomas Jolly, 1667-1671.

- 4 tomes in 3 vol. in-4°: frontispiece, (10ff), 593pp, (3pp), 4 engravings // frontispiece, (8ff), 539pp, 14 engravings // frontispiece, (8ff), 317pp, (8pp), 1 engraving // (3ff) 362pp, (7ff), 7 engravings.

Rare Book Monthly

  • DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800
  • Freeman’s | Hindman
    Western Manuscripts and Miniatures
    July 8, 2025
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FRANCESCO PETRARCH (b. Arezzo, 20 July 1304; d. Arqua Petrarca, 19 July 1374). $20,000-30,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VITAE IMPERATORUM (active Milan, 1431-1459). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (GABRIELLO DI VANTE) (active Florence, c. 1452-c. 1520/25). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Previously unknown illumination from one of the most renowned Gothic Choir Book sets of the Middle Ages. $6,000-8,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!

Article Search

Archived Articles