"THE ZEAL OF OUR ANCESTORSWHICH SEEMS TO REPROACH OUR SLOW IMITATION…":1685 FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH OF MAIMBOURG'S HISTORY OF THE CRUSADE

MAIMBOURG, Louis. The History of the Crusade; or, the Expeditions of the Christian Princes for the Conquest of the Holy Land. London: Thomas Dring, 1685. Small folio, contemporary full speckled brown calf, raised bands, red morocco spine label. $2800.

First edition in English of Maimbourg's history of the Crusades, translated by English divine John Nalson.

"Here one shall find the great Concerns of the Church, of two mighty Empires, and the Principal Estates of Europe and Asia: there shall one discover the causes which occasioned that glorious design so often to fall, and yet afterwards rise again: there may we see that Zeal of our Ancestors which seems to reproach our slow imitation…" Maimbourg, a Jesuit, "gives in this work an account of the places and inhabitants visited during the Crusades… None other than Voltaire, himself no friend of the Jesuits, complained that Maimbourg's many works were unjustly neglected" (Blackmer 1063). With extensive descriptions of the cities and geography of the Middle East. First published in French in 1675. Wing M290. Bookplates.

Text generally clean and fine, with minor marginal tears to leaf Oo and marginal paper flaw to Yy and Yy4, none affecting text. Handsome contemporary calf binding with expert restoration.