4to (193 x 150mm). Letterpress title set within wide historiated engraved border, 17 engraved illustrations by Theodor de Bry after Joos van Winghe, woodcut initials and head-pieces. (Some minor soiling, a few small rust spots occasionally touching letters.) Early vellum gilt, spine hand-lettered, edges gauffered and gilt, tan watered silk endleaves (some minor soiling). Provenance: John Carter Brown (bookplate and with "Duplicate Released" stamp and manuscript note dated November 19, 1965, stamp on first text leaf); 19th/20th? century bookseller notes pencilled on rear flyleaf. 

FIRST LATIN EDITION AND THE FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION. "This edition is much sought for, in consequence of the beauty of the first impressions of the plates" by de Bry after drawings by Winghe (Sabin 11283). The text was translated from the French edition of 1579. De las Casas was one of the first Spanish in the Americas and initially participated in the colonial economy built on forced indigenous labor, but he eventually came to oppose the abuses perpetrated by European colonists; the plates in this edition depict those atrocities. He became a Dominican friar and was appointed the first resident Bishop of Chiapas. In that role, he was appointed the first Protectoría de Los Indios ("Protector of the Indians"), an administrative office of the Spanish colonies responsible for attending to the well-being of the native populations. Alden & Landis 598/20; Church 320; Palau 46960; Streeter sale I:30.