*** Please note, the description of this lot has changed ***

South America.- Bertonio (Ludovico) Vocabulario de la Lengua Aymara, first edition, 2 parts in 1, woodcut trigram of the Society of Jesus to title, with divisional blank leaf between parts (Hh8), title-page probably in facsimile, without dedication f. ([par]4), some light soiling and occasional damp-stains, final leaf reinforced at gutter on verso, contemporary calf, expertly rebacked, retaining original back-strip with gilt lettering and ornament, some wear and soiling, r.e., faded, with wrap-around slipcase and housed within black morocco drop-back box by Goy & Vilaine, [Palau 28512; Sabin 5023], Juli [Peru], Compañia de Iesu, Francisco del Canto, 1612.*** Extremely rare. First edition of the first Spanish-Aymara dictionary, intended for missionary use to the Aymara people of the central Andes, it is one of only four surviving works from the small Jesuit press at Juli in south-eastern Peru on the shores of Lake Titicaca between, which operated under the established auspices of Francisco del Canto in Lima. The first comprehensive vocabulary of Aymara, which today is one of only six indigenous native American languages with over a million speakers and is now generally accepted to have been the principal language of the Inca, Bertonio’s work is recognised as foundational for the study of pre-colonial Andean culture and ethnography more generally. We can trace only one other copy at auction in the last 60 years.

This copy would appear to lack the dedication leaf ([par]4). Whilst the collation is the same as the copy in the John Carter Brown Library, leaves A1-2 are in a different setting to the JCB copy.