SCHEFFER (Johannes Gerhard).Histoire de la Laponie, sa descr - Lot 45

SCHEFFER (Johannes Gerhard).Histoire de la Laponie, sa description, l'origine, les mœurs, la manière de vivre de ses habitans, leur Religion, leur Magie, & les choses rares du Païs. Avec plusieurs Additions & Augmentations fort curieuses, qui jusqu'icy n'ont pas été imprimées.Paris : Veuve Olivier de Varennes, 1678. - In-4, 239 x 180: frontispiece, (7 ff.), 408 pp. 1 map, 21 plates. Brown calf, spine ribbed and decorated, spotted edges (period binding).Caillet, 9954. French first edition, dedicated to the Swedish baron Charles Bonde, translated from Latin by Auguste Lubin and Richelet, of this historical work on the Lapps. Born in Strasbourg, Johannes Gerhard Scheffer (1621-1679) settled in Sweden under the patronage of Queen Christine, who appointed him librarian and then professor of eloquence and law at Uppsala. In this work, he devoted himself to the study of the Sami (Lapps), describing in detail their way of life and innovative techniques, such as the use of asymmetrical skis (one short for maneuvering, one long for speed). His observations are among the first of their kind, providing invaluable insight into 17th-century Nordic cultures. Part of the book is devoted to magic. According to Caillet: "La Magie des Lapons is meticulously studied [...] with numerous magical figures in support. The reproduction of magical tombs, covered with kabbalistic signs, adds to this work a most suggestive document." The edition is illustrated with a handsome frontispiece, seven figures in the text and 21 plates, all copper-engraved. There is also a folding map of Lapland, based on the observations of mathematicians by Augustin Lubin and engraved specially for this edition by René Michault. A good copy in contemporary binding, one of the few to include chapter II (pages 3-4) in two states, one ending with "qu'on en fit en M. D. C.", the other with "relevoit de sa Couronne". The added leaf has been bound after the privilege. Some rubbing and wear, old label of a private library, glued to the top of the spine. Angular tear to frontispiece, not missing and without damage to the engraving. Provenance: Madame de Fanalete, with her name on the first endpaper and on the frontispiece.