[Rarebooks] fa: 1740 Gentleman's Magazine: MAPS of AMERICA & WEST INDIES - ST. AUGUSTINE - HAVANA &c.

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auction ending MONDAY, October 28. More details and images can be found at the URL below or by searching under the seller name arch_in_la.

http://tinyurl.com/kg57xos

Thanks again,
Ardwight Chamberlain
L.A.



The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle. Volume X. For the Year MDCCXL [1740]. London: Edw. Cave, jun. at St. John's Gate, [1740]. Twelve monthly issues, plus supplement, volume title, indices and preface. Thick 8vo (21 cm) bound in early (original?) blue paper-covered boards with vellum spine; 660 + [14] pp. (lacking one leaf of the index); with in-text charts and tables, diagrams, maps and illustrations, musical notation, and 5 engraved folding maps (complete as listed). Binding worn and stained, some loss to the spine vellum; front hinge cracked and the vellum is pulling away from the spine, but the binding is holding; intermittent light toning and spotting to the leaves, but in general the contents are quite clean and sound, securely bound. Front paste-down with the engraved armorial bookplate of J. Comyns, Wood [Devon].

An outstanding example of this mighty organ of the Age of Enlightenment, the first and longest-running "magazine" in the modern sense. This is one of the earliest volumes of the Gentleman's Magazine to include a complement of the superbly engraved maps for which it is known (and avidly collected).

With FIVE FOLDING MAPS & PLANS related to the AMERICAS:

	  An Accurate Map of the WEST INDIES, Exhibiting not only all the Islands possess'd by the English, French, Spaniards & Dutch, but also all the Towns and Settlements on the Continent of America adjacent thereto (32 x 40cm; some browning and wear to the edges).
	  A New Map or Chart of the Western or ATLANTIC OCEAN, with part of Europe, Africa & America: Showing the Course of the Galleons, Flota, &c. to and from the West Indies (40 x 30 cm; splitting at two of the folds).
	  An Exact Draught [map] of the Castle of SAN LORENZO & Village & River of CHAGRE [Chagres, PANAMA] With the Situation of Adml. Vernon's Ships in the Attack of the Fort March 24, 1740.
	  A Plan of the City and Harbour of LA VERA CRUZ [MEXICO] and the Castle of SAN JUAN DE ULUA Being the Key of the Traffick and the principal Port of New Spain.
	  A View of the Town and Castle of ST. AUGUSTINE, and the English Camp before it (short closed tear, minor edge-wear).
	  PLUS woodcut plans of PORTO BELLO, CARTAGENA (full-page), and HAVANA.
Other notable features include:

	  Extensive coverage of the WAR OF JENKINS' EAR and hostilities between England and Spain in the Americas: Admiral Vernon's Account of the taking of Porto Bello; Strength of the Bermuda Islands; Hostilities of the Spaniards in Georgia; Insurrection of the Negroes in South Carolina; Account of Fort St. Augustine, La Vera Cruz and St. Jago de  Cuba; Advices from the West Indies, Gallant Action of some British Sailors, List of Men of War at Jamaica, Account of the Galleons, Flota, Flotilla, and Registry Ships imployed by the Spaniards in the West India Trade, etc., etc.
	  Several contributions by SAMUEL JOHNSON, including the preface, "Characters of the Lilliputian Senators", "The Life of Sir Francis Drake", "An Epitaph upon the celebrated Claudy Phillips, Musician, who died very poor", etc.
	  "Debates in the Senate of Lilliput" (thinly disguised and far from literal transcriptions of Parliamentary debates)
	  Table of the Coins of Asia, Africa, and America, with Annotations
	  Characters of the Ladies who compose the Scandal Club
	  A new Method to prevent Swearing
	  Plus monthly Prices of Stocks and Goods, Account of Theatrical Performances, Register of Books published, Bills of Mortality, Obituaries, listing of Bankrupts; newspaper extracts; and much more.

Additionally (and possibly uniquely), this volume contains a 7-page "List of the House of Commons… as it stood in their last Session, Dec. 31, 1740, with a Blank for the next," wherein all the "blanks" have been filled with the next member's name in a meticulous eighteenth-century hand.