LAFITAU, Joseph François (1681-1746) - photo 1
LAFITAU, Joseph François (1681-1746) - photo 2
LAFITAU, Joseph François (1681-1746) - photo 3
LAFITAU, Joseph François (1681-1746) - photo 4
LAFITAU, Joseph François (1681-1746) - photo 5
LAFITAU, Joseph François (1681-1746) - photo 6

LAFITAU, Joseph François (1681-1746)

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£ 22 680
Auction dateClassic
13.12.2023 11:00UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
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ID 1105642
Lot 95 | LAFITAU, Joseph François (1681-1746)
LAFITAU, Joseph François (1681-1746)

Moeurs des sauvages amériquains, comparées aux moeurs des premiers temps. Paris: Saugrain l'aîné & Charles Estienne Hochereau, 1724.

First edition in a sumptuous French citron morocco binding, formerly in the collection of Sophie de France. Lafitau was a Jesuit missionary to the Iroquois between 1712-1718. This work is the best summation of the life and society of the indigenous American to that date, and was admired by ethnographic authorities from Charlevoix to Field. Lafitau provides a highly detailed compendium of the social customs and religious practices of the ancient, Asian, and North American cultures, and is comprehensive and meticulous in its information on the Iroquois and other northern tribes. The illustrations show numerous First Nation customs and views of their villages.



Sophie de France (1734-1782) was the sixth daughter and eighth child of King Louis XV of France and his queen consort, Marie Leszczyńska. With her elder sisters, Adelaide (1732-1800) and Victoire (1733-1799), the three became known as the Mesdames. All were bibliophiles, with their books bound by Fournier in Versailles and Vente in Paris, and distinguished by the colour of the leathers used: Sophie's were bound in citron morocco, while Adelaide and Victoire's were bound in red and in green morocco respectively; all three used the same arms. Upon Madame Sophie's death in 1782, part of her library was bequeathed to the Marquise de la Porte de Riants, her lady-in-waiting. The manuscript catalogue of Madame Sophie's library, compiled in 1778 and bound in citron morocco, was owned by Guglielmo Libri (Sotheby's, 1st August 1859, lot 551). Alden & Landis 724⁄97; Field 850; Howes L-22; Lande 494; Sabin 38596; Staton & Tremaine/TPL 158; Streeter sale I:121.



2 volumes, quarto (235 x 182mm). 42 engraved plates including frontispiece, one engraved map of America, engraved head-piece (occasional scattered light insignificant spotting and browning). Slightly later French citron morocco, covers panelled with wide gilt borders composed of a triple fillet enclosing corner- and central foliate scrolls and sprays and utilizing various small tools of flowers, shells and shells, with large central armorial, gilt spines with raised bands and olive morocco gilt lettering-pieces, marbled endpapers, gilt edges (extremities faintly rubbed). Provenance: Sophie of France (1734-1782; binding, Oliver 2514, fer 5).

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