Lot 29. FERRER MALDONADO, Lorenzo.

A superb large copy in contemporary green morocco of the preferred enlarged second edition. Ferrer Maldonado’s account of a spurious 1588 voyage through the Polar seas, during which the Spanish navigator claimed to have discovered the fabled Northwest Passage (here called the Strait of Anian, depicted in the folding maps). A scarce item in any edition.

4to (29 x 21.5 cm). [4], 98, [2]pp., half-title, errata, explanation of plates III-V, engraved vignette to title, 5 maps and plans on 3 sheets (1 double-page, 2 folding), green straight-grained morocco gilt, covers with broad gilt borders, spine faded to olive, all edges gilt, a fine copy.

[Hill p103; Howes F95; Lada-Mocarski 66; Sabin 44109.]

Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough (signature dated 1816); William Ponsonby, Baron de Mauley (signature); W.R. Coe; Beinecke Library (William Robinson Coe collection bookplate and withdrawn stamp).