Beschreibung:

Bellum Christianorum principum, praecipue Callorum, contra Saracenos, anno salutis MLXXXVIII pro terra sancto gestum .
Basel: Henricus Petrus, August 1533. Folio (308 x 200 mm). 149pp., [a4, A4, B6, C4-R4, S6]. 46 four-, six- and nine-line woodcut initials, many with historiation. Final leaf with woodcut printer's device. Modern half red morocco over marbled paper covered boards. Condition : paper repair to last line of p.94, ink smudges affecting tail at pp.73-74, light spotting throughout, few marginal dampstains; some scuffs, light shelfwear. Acquisition : 1993 purchase at German Auction via William Reese Company, $1,307. first edition of an important 16th-century compendium containing the initial report of columbus on his first american voyage . Although this collection is foremost concerned with European-Muslim affairs, pages 116-121 reprint the Latin translation by Leandro di Cosco of Columbus's letter to Rafael Sanchez announcing his discovery of the New World. In addition to the New World news, Bellum Christianorum … is a notorious account of European travelers in Islamic lands conveying 700 years of struggle between Christianity and Islam. In particular, Monachus presents an account of the First Crusade, while Carolus Verardus offers a narrative of the expulsion of Muslims and Jews from Spain. Adams R-612; European Americana 533/6; Church, I 65 ('This is the edition from which most early writers quote'); Harrisse 175; Sabin 72023.