Descrpção [sic] do Reino de Portugal.…

Lisbon, Impresso com licença, por Jorge Rodriguez, 1610.. FIRST EDITION. 4°, contemporary limp vellum, flat spine defective at head and foot with faded vertical calligraphic inscription, yapp edges, remains of ties, text block edges sprinkled red (top edges darkened). Woodcut Portuguese royal arms on title page. Large woodcut printer's device on final preliminary leaf recto. Woodcut initials. Typographical headpiece. In very good condition overall. Oval blindstamp on title page and rear free endleaf, barely noticeable. Missing letter "I" in title supplied in contemporary ink manuscript. (12), 161 [i.e., 162] ll. 2¶12, A4, B-V8, X6. The final 2 leaves are both numbered 161. Leaf 30 wrongly numbered 34; 51-2 wrongly numbered 41-2; 86 wrongly numbered 85; 105 wrongly numbered 150; 112 wrongly numbered 110; 160 wrongly numbered 190. *** FIRST EDITION, published posthumously, edited by the author's nephew, Gil Nunes do Leão. Presumably this would be the first issue, with the error in the first word of the title, not mentioned in any of the bibliographies consulted. There is a second edition, 1785. The book is a geographical and historical survey of Portugal, region by region, city by city, villa by villa, ancient Lusitania, with chapters on rivers, gold, silver and other mines, salt, olive oil, wine, honey, wax, livestock, fishing, herbs, vegetables, meat, fruit, various Saints and martyrs, important ecclesiastical figures, etc. Some of the ultimate chapters discuss qualities of the Portuguese people, such as honor and dignity. On leaf 138 begins a chapter on the honesty and perfection of Portuguese women; a section on Portuguese women in arts and letters begins on leaf 151.Duarte Nunes de Leão (ca. 1530-1608), whose name appears on the title page as Duarte Nunez do Leão (it is sometimes also given as Liam, or Lião), historian, philologist, geographer, and jurisconsult (ca. 1530-1608), was born at Évora and studied civil law at Coimbra. He eventually rose to the position of judge of the Casa da Supplicação (court of appeals). His many other published works include the Repertorio dos cinquo livros das ordenacões (Lisbon, 1560), an important summary of Portuguese laws (updated by his Leis extravagantes, Lisbon, 1569), Orthographia da lingoa portuguesa (1576), Chronicas dos Reis de Portugal (Lisbon, 1600) and Origem da lingoa portuguesa (Lisbon, 1606).*** Arouca L 30. Barbosa Machado 1, 736-737. Innocêncio II, 211. Pinto de Mattos pp. 372-373. Palha 2741. Biblioteca Central da Marinha, Catálogo das obras impressas no séc. XVIII, 422. Gubian 521. Nepomuceno 1203. Sabugosa 165. Monteverde 3787. Ameal 1648. Rodrigo Veloso (Segundo escrinio) 5363.