History of Conquest of Mexico, Prescott 1879. This three-volume set is titled “History Of The Conquest Of Mexico, With A Preliminary View Of The Ancient Mexican Civilization, And the Life Of The Conqueror, Hernando Cortes”, written by William H. Prescott, and it’s a New and Revised Edition, with the author’s latest corrections and additions, and the set was edited by John Foster Kirk and published Philadelphia by J. B. Lippincott & Co. in 1879. The first edition was published in England by R. Bentley in 1843 and the first American edition followed a few months later and was published in New York by Harper And Brothers, and the set is Prescott’s classic history of the colonization of Mexico by the Spaniards. The books are 3/4 bound, with five raised bands, six gilt-ruled compartments with red and black labels, gilt lettering, and gilt decorations on the spines, “New And Revised Edition” in gilt at the bottom of the spines, marbled covers and marbled endpapers, half-titles, the title pages are all inscribed “C M McGhee” at the top, then a copyright page, and all the edges are marbled. The first volume has a frontis portrait of “Hernando Cortes, Conqueror of Mexico” with a protective tissue guard, an eight-page Preface (v - xiii), fifteen pages of Contents (xvii - xxxi), a three-page list of Maps and Illustrations, a double-page “Map of the Country Traversed by the Spaniards on Their March to Mexico", and 477 pages of text. The second volume has a frontis portrait of “Montezuma II, Emperor of Mexico” and a tissue guard, fifteen pages of Contents (v - xix), and the text runs to page 463, and the last volume has another frontis portrait of Hernan Cortes with a tissue guard, eighteen pages of Contents (v - xvii), one leaf with a facsimile signature of Cortes, 466 pages of text (3 - 466), and an Index that runs to page 522. See BAL 16340 and Sabin 65262. The books are 8vo. and measure 7 5/8 x 5 3/8 in. wide and are in good condition. The bindings are tight and the pages, text, and plates are clean, with faint offset from the frontis portraits in the first two volumes, faint brown spots on the rear endpapers in the second volume, light rubbing at the heels and crowns and wear and rubbing on the tips, a couple of tips are slightly turned in, a small gash on the edge of the second volume and a pin-head sized hole in the black label on the third volume, and the gilt has faded a bit. First American editions by Harper from 1843 go anywhere from $295 to $2500 and this edition by Lippincott is starting at a much lower price, and an interesting history of how native Mexican land was stolen by a foreign conqueror in the 1500’s. #205 #1583