Oeuvres de don Barthélemi de Las Casas, évêque de Chiapa, défenseur de la liberté des naturels de l'Amérique [...].

2 vols, 8vo: [viii]-cx-409-[2], [iv]-503 pp., 1 pl. (rather severe foxing and staining to some 20 pp. of 2nd vol., marg. dam., err. pag., some soiling).

Contemp. quarter calf, marbl. paper on boards, gilt flat spine (min. worn).

1st ed. of this work by Bartholomé de las Casas (1485-1566), a Dominican missionary in the West Indies and a defender of the Indians. His repeated interventions against the cruelty of the conquistadores led in 1550-1551 to the Valladolid debate, the first morale debate in European history ordained by Charles V on the legitimacy of colonisation, the rights and treatment of colonised people by colonisers and the human nature of the Indians. The book, dedicated to the count of Las Casas, questions especially the slavery of Indians and Blacks. Ill.: engraved portrait of the author.
Ref. BNF. - Sabin 11276.