Histoire des revolutions d'Espagne depuis la destruction de l'Empire des Goths, jusqu'à l'entiére & parfaite réünion des Royaumes de Castille & d'Aragon en une seule monarchie.

Paris, Chez Rollin Fils, 1734.. FIRST EDITION. 3 volumes. 4°, contemporary French calf, spines heavily gilt with raised bands in six compartments, red leather lettering pieces in second and third compartments from head (some wear, spine heads chipped). Woodcut headpieces, tailpieces and initials. Slight browning; occasional light foxing; some minor stains and soiling. Overall in good to very good condition. xxvi, 579, (1) pp., (18 ll.), 1 folding engraved map of Spain and Portugal; xiv pp., (1 l.), 644 pp., (13 ll.), 1 folding engraved genealogical chart; vii, (1), 655, (1) pp., (12 ll.). *** FIRST EDITION of this detailed history of Spain from the Moorish invasion in 711 to the death of Ferdinand V in 1516. Divided into nine books, the Histoire takes for its theme the gradual Christian reconquest of Spain from the Moors and the unification of Castile and Aragon under Ferdinand and Isabella. Orléans finished only the first seven books, the last two being completed by Pierre Joseph Arthuys and Pierre Brumoy. The Histoire was reprinted at The Hague, 1734; Paris, 1737 and 1787, and an Italian translation appeared at Venice, 1737. The folding map, specially engraved for this edition, was prepared by the French cartographer Jean Baptiste Nolin.The folding engraved plate in volume II is a genealogical tree (drawn to look like an actual tree) showing the pretenders to the throne of Aragon in the early fifteenth century.Orléans (1641-1698) was born in Bourges and entered the Jesuit order in 1659, later serving as an instructor in rhetoric. He had earlier written a similar work, Histoire des revolutions d'Angleterre (Amsterdam, 1689), which met with considerable success, being reprinted many times and translated into several languages. Among his many other published works are biographies of noted Jesuits.*** Backer-Sommervogel V, 1944. Brunet II, 822. Graesse II, 428. NUC: MH, NjP, InU, CU, MeB, NNG.