Fourth French edition. First published in Spanish in 1684 under the title Historia de la conquista de México, this account by the dramatist and historian Solís y Ribadeneyra ‘was undoubtedly the most popular history of America that had then been written; and the number of editions published even up to the nineteenth century, in Spanish, French, Italian, English and German, testify to its popularity long after the initial interest of its historical information had passed. [...] His principal sources of inspiration for this history were the letters of Hernan Cortes, the works of Francisco Lopez de Gomara, Bernal Diaz del Castillo, and some miscellaneous documents. In addition to a full account of the relations between Cortes and Montezuma, there is an abundance of data concerning the intimate lives of the Indians’ (Cox II, p. 239). This French translation by de Broë was first published in Paris in 1691 and remained the standard French edition until the late nineteenth century, when Phillippe de Toulza produced a new translation. ¶¶

Solís y Ribadeneyra (1610-1686) was an offical historian for the American colonies to King Charles II of Spain (1661-1700). Interestingly, this set was previously in the library of Madame and Monsieur de May. Olivier notes that Madame de May was the wet nurse of the duc d’Anjou (1683-1746), who succeeded Charles II as King Philip V of Spain in 1700. As king of Spain, Philip V inherited Spain, Spanish America, the Spanish Netherlands, and parts of Italy from Charles II. This led to the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), which finally ended through the Treaties of Utrecht (1713-1714) in the year that this work was published. The Treaties of Utrecht saw Philip V lose some of his European possessions but retain control of Spain and Spanish America (including Mexico as part of the Virreinato de la Nueva España). Madame de May’s husband Nicolas Rouillé (or Rouilliers) was also, according to Olivier, valet de chambre to the duc d’Anjou. In 1718 Madame de May purchased the seigneurie of Chatou and Montesson (although this was repealed in 1720), and on the basis of dated books from her library, she seems to have lived into the late 1720s. ¶¶

This set was later in the travel and exploration library of the Portuguese diplomat Anthero Carreiro de Freitas, who had served as his country’s Minister Plenipotentiary to Chile during the early 1950s, ending his career as Portugal’s Chief of Protocol. ¶¶

J.T. Medina, Biblioteca hispano-americana 1493-1810, III, p. 321 (issue with the imprint of Guillaume Cavelier, one of the Compagnie des Libraires); A. Palau y Dulcet, Manual del librero hispanoamericano (1948-1977), 318678 (this issue); J. Sabin et al., A Dictionary of Books Relating to America, 86477. ¶¶¶

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