BOOTHBY, Richard. - A breife discovery or description of the most famous island of Madagascar or St. Laurence in Asia neare unto East-India.London, Printed by E[dward]. G[riffin]. for John Hardesty, 1646. Small 4to (20 x 15.5 cm). Gold-tooled tanned sheepskin (ca. 1850). Rebacked, with original backstrip laid down.

[12], 72, [1], [1 blank] pp.First separately published edition of Boothby's description of Madagascar and its opportunities for trade and colonization, detailing the trade with India, Persia (including Ormuz, captured in 1622 by a joint Anglo-Persian force) and other countries along the Arabian Sea and touching on a large variety of subjects including Saint Augustine's harbour, culture of the natives, opportunities for plantations, natural resources, pearl fishery and trading practices of the English, Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch.The British merchant Richard Boothby had reinvested his capital in the East India Company around 1615, after which he sailed to India where he was jailed as a result of a dispute with company officials. Upon his release he returned to London by way of Madagascar, which inspired his enthusiasm so much that he wrote the present book advising the East India Company's rivals to take advantage of it as the ideal location for a European colony.With the bookplate Crosby Gaige (1882-1949). Several chapters are heavily annotated in English in an early hand. These give information about a voyage or voyages and would reward further study. With the gutter margin of the title-page and all margins of the last leaf restored but otherwise in good condition, with a small tear in the fore-edge margin of the title-page and a couple minor spots. Rebacked, but binding otherwise good.l BMC III, p. 943; Gay, Bibl. de l'Afrique et l'Arabe 3204 (note); ESTC R200937; cf. G. Campbell, David Griffiths and the missionary "History of Madagascar" (2012), p. 416.

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