William Roberson (1721-1793). The History of America. London & Edinburgh: A. Strahan, T. Cadell, and J. Balfour, 1792. 

3 volumes, 8vo. Four (4) folding maps by Thomas Kitchin, Sr. (two each in vols. I & II) and one (1) folding plate (vol. III). Contemporary mottled calf, gilt spines in 6 compartments with five raised bands, green and red morocco spine labels gilt. Sixth edition. Howes R-358. 

Provenance: Clarence B. Mitchell (ownership inscription to front free end paper and book plate to interior front board, all volumes).

A fine copy of Scottish historian William Robertson's monumental and well-regarded work on the Spanish discovery, exploration, and colonization in the Americas. Notably, this copy includes all four original maps by English cartographer Thomas Kitchin, Sr. (1718-1784): "Map of South America"; "Map of the Gulf of Mexico, the Islands and Countries adjacent."; "Map of the Countries on the South Sea, from Panama to Guayquil."; and "Mexico, or New Spain; in which the Motions of Cortes may be traced." Volume III also includes a fine folding plate showing artistic renderings by John Lodge (1735-1796) of pre-Columbian script and pictograms (vol. III). The plate and all the maps were printed by Strahan & Cadell in London in 1777, corresponding with the date of the first edition of Robertson's work. 

Immensely popular, this was the final edition published before his death in 1793. The work was expanded posthumously to include the early histories of Virginia and New England, and later the nascent United States through the Revolution. As Howes notes, it was the "most highly regarded secondary source of its time." 

A handsome copy with fine maps. 

[Books, Bibles, Soldiers' Bibles, Prayer Books, Ephemera, Pamphlets, Publications, Booklets, Memoirs] [Maps, Atlases, Cartographic History, Cartography] [Spanish History, Spanish Colonialism, Mexican History, South American History, Central American History, Maya, Aztec, Hernán Cortés, Conquistadors] 

Short tear to lower edge of "Map of South America"