Prescott, William H. History of the Conquest of Peru, with a preliminary view of the Civilization of the Incas (2 volume set). New York: Harper & Brothers, 1847. First American Edition. [11091]
Two volumes in black publisher's cloth, blind stamped boards, gilt to spines. 9 1/2 x 6 1/4 inches, tight. The top half of the backstrip of vol. i. has been relaid with pH neutral binder's paste. Vol I. - Steel-engraved portrait of Pizarro, tissue guard foxed, xl, map, 527 pages; Vol. II. - Dark foxing on the end papers, steel-engraved portrait of Pedro de la Gasca, tissue guard foxed, xx, plate of facsimile signatures, 547 pages with a general index. Both volumes have light foxing in the texts. Good. Hardcover.
A later printing of BAL 16346, the first American edition, with white end papers, printer's imprint not present on copyright page. It does have the first issue point of no period after "integrity," vol. II. p. 467, line 20, but with white end papers instead of yellow.
William Hickling Prescott (1796-1859), widely recognized by historiographers to be the first American scientific historian. Prescott was one of the most eminent historians of 19th century America.
"Prescott’s achievements as a historian and as a literary artist were remarkable. For example, the persistent demand for the Conquest of Mexico has resulted in its publication in 10 languages at least 200 times and that of the Conquest of Peru in 11 languages at least 160 times. He was the first English-speaking historian to reach a wide audience outside the Hispanic world with a history expressing the Spanish point of view. Spaniards, in Prescott’s histories, were often forerunners of progress." - Britannica online.
