Author: ROBERTSON, William; [Petrus LOOSJES, transl.].
Title: Geschiedenis van America. Uit het Engelsch vertaald [by P. Loosjes].Amsterdam, Yntema & Tieboell, 1778. 4 volumes. 8vo. With woodcut title-vignettes; 4 folding maps by Thomas Kitchin (1718-1784), representing (1) the Gulf of Mexico with adjacent countries and islands; (2) Mexico or New Spain; (3) South America and (4) Central America and the South Sea; and a folding plate showing part of the 14th-century Mixtec Codex Vindobonensis. Uniform contemporary half calf.
Description: XXXII, 378; 307; XIV, 15-439; IV, 7-322, [65] pp.First edition of the Dutch translation by P. Loosjes of William Robertson’s highly important history of the discovery of America, first published in 1777 as The history of America, an immensely popular anthropological account of American history that focuses on the explorations, the conquest of Mexico and Peru, and the anthropology of the indigenous American cultures. In these volumes Robertson wrote the first history of the discovery and Spanish conquest of America to be based on ample bibliographical information and documents in the Simancas archives. The bibliography (a catalogue of Spanish books and manuscripts) at the end of the last volume, pp. 303-322, is remarkable for the time (Borba de Moraes). The actions of Columbus and Cortez are especially well researched.Rev. William Robertson (1721-1793) was a highly respected Scottish historian, minister in the Church of Scotland, and Principal of the University of Edinburgh. He is regarded, along with David Hume and Edward Gibbon, as one of the most important British historians of the 18th century. After his ground-breaking works: The history of Scotland, during the reigns of Queen Mary and of King James VI (1759), and The history of the reign of the Emperor Charles V (1769) followed his History of America (London, for W. Strahan, T. Cadell & J. Balfour, 1777), which was reprinted several times and translated into many languages. Robertson’s histories reflect his interest in social theory; they stress the importance of material and environmental factors in determining the course of civilization.With the bookplate of the Dutch historian and author François Constant Ghislain Boissevain (1952-). Head of the spine of vol. 4 somewhat damaged, bindings a little worn around the edges. An untrimmed copy in good condition.l Cox, II, p. 150; Howes, R358, 493; JCB III, 2510; Sabin 71999 (cf. 71973: English ed.); cf. NHSM I, p. 552 (Engl. ed.); cf. D. Armitage, “The New World and British historical thought”, in: America in European consciousness (ed. Karin Ordahl Kupperman), pp. 52-75; Muller, America 1369; Lowery, List of maps of the Spanish possessions, p. 390; Philips, List, pp. 407, 423, 802; not in Tiele.

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