Guillaume-Thomas Raynal - Histoire philosophique et politique des établissements et du commerce des Européens dans les deux - 1777

Guillaume-Thomas Raynal – Philosophical and Political History of the Establishments and Trade of the Europeans in the two Indies – 1777

Fifth edition of 1777, published in Maastricht by Jean-Edme Dufour and Philippe Roux (Cinquième édition, augmentée de variantes).

An important work of the French Enlightenment, devoted to the history of explorations, trade and European colonization in Asia, Africa and the Americas, with contributions by Denis Diderot.

Complete series of 7 volumes, totaling 2,541 pages according to the pagination observed.

Illustrated and cartographic apparatus: the engraved portrait of the author is present and all 7 original illustrated plates, one per volume. 6 of the 7 folded maps are present as expected, in volumes I, III, IV, V, VI and VII. The map for volume II is missing.

Uniform period bindings in light leather, with gilded decorations on the spines. There are ancient handwritten annotations in French.

Conditions overall good for age. Interiors generally well preserved, plates sharp, natural browning, foxing and signs of time. Wear to bindings, more evident at the spine of the second volume.

Unique lot of 7 original eighteenth-century volumes. The photographs constitute an integral part of the description.