First edition, first printing. xx, 684, with tissue-guarded plate frontispiece. Brown publisher's cloth-covered boards, black lettering on the spine. Top edge gilt. Cloth is worn, rubbed and rounded at corners, chipped at spine ends and edges. Bookplate of the Long Island Historical Society on front paste down, some light spotting restricted to endpapers, hint of page toning, else internally neat, clean, bright and tight.
William Hickling Prescott (1796-1859) was an American historian who focussed on the history and culture of the Spanish-speaking world and widely recognised as the first American scientific historian, respected for his thoroughness and system use of primary evidence.
