LÉRY, Jean de. Histoire d'un voyage faict en la terre du Bré - Lot 230

LÉRY, Jean de. Histoire d'un voyage faict en la terre du Brésil. Very rare numbered edition on China paper (no. 25) of this account of Jean de Léry's (1534-1613) voyage to Brazil in 1557, in a charming binding by Édouard Pagnant. Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1879. 2 vol. in-12, green half-maroquin with corners, spines framed in cold, author's name and tomaison gilt, date at foot, gilt head. Contemporary binding, signed Pagnant. XVIII (biographical and bibliographical note) and 218 pp. ; 214 pp. and 1 f. (completed printing), headbands, lettering and tailpieces. Minor rubbing to some nerves and two headpieces, slight browning to spines. Minor foxing, more present on first and last pages. Very rare edition limited to 25 numbered copies on China paper, this one No. 25. The writer-traveler Jean de Léry (1534-1613), described as the "Montaigne of travelers", recounts his voyage to the bay of present-day Rio de Janeiro at the end of 1557, and describes the life of the Toüoupinambaoults Indians who inhabited it. This text is considered by anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss to be a "masterpiece of ethnographic literature". Paul Gaffarel (1843-1920), a French historian specializing in colonial affairs and author of the introduction and notes to the present edition, states that this is the complete reproduction of the second edition, printed by Chuppin in 1580, with additions and corrections. Complete sum in 2 volumes. Two fine bookplates on endpapers and flyleaves: ex-libris engraved with the arms of René Amédée Choppin de Villy (1806-1886) on the flyleaves (azure, a golden winged stag passant sur un épieu d'or, issant de la pointe de l'écu, with the motto "MONSTRANT REGIBUS ASTRAVIAM" in a scroll above the coat of arms); ex-libris vignette by the famous illustrator Tancrède Synave (1870-1936) on the first endpapers. A fine and rare copy, in a sober binding perfectly executed by Édouard Pagnant.