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Moüette, [Germain].
Histoire des conquestes de Mouley Archy, connu sous le nom de Roy de Tafilet; et de Mouley Ismaël, ou Seméin son frere, & son Successeur à present Regnant.
Publisher: Edme Couterot, ruë S. Jacques, au bon Pasteur, Paris;
Date of Publication: 1683
Stock Code: 15168
First edition. Duodecimo, pp., [36], 469, [19], sig., â¹² ê6 A-V¹² X⁴, copper-engraved frontispiece portrait, and two folding copper-engraved maps from drawings by the author, woodcut initial capitals, head- and tailpieces throughout. Late-eighteenth century full Spanish calf; spine on five raised bands, ornamented in gilt within compartments, titled in gilt to morocco spine-label; triple gilt fillets to boards; all edges dyed red; marbled end-papers, one historic (although not original) initial and terminal blank. Small, neat ownership inscription in ink of one ‘A. Paget’ to verso of front free end-paper. Upper joint cracked and lower joint starting but spine holding well; rubbing to spine and to edges. Second map neatly torn to central fold but still complete and in serviceable order; a few spots but contents otherwise clean. The first edition of the author’s first book, an account of Morocco, by a French author who was held captive and enslaved there for eleven years. In 1670, the nineteen year old Germain Moüette (1652-91) was bound on a voyage to America, when he and his fellow travellers were captured by corsairs, and transported to the notorious pirate port of Salé. From there, Moüette was enslaved, and forced to labour in the construction of the new capital city of Meknès. Moüette had many owners, and was transported through much of the country, scrupulously describing what he saw. Moüette gained the friendship of a local scribe, who related to him the recent history of the country, particularly the reign of the warlike Moulay Al-Rashid in Sharif (r. 1666-72). Combining his own experience with this local account Moüette produced a manuscript which was transported in secret from a French merchant in Salé, who claimed the papers were related to the author’s ransom. Moüette was one of the few European writers on North Africa to have actually been held captive, and his works have been called ‘foundational and genre-defining’ (Saidi, 122). European accounts of Morocco rarely derived from detailed interviews with locals. Copies are scarce in trade, particularly so with both maps. £750.00