Origins of the Peoples of the Americas
F.X.A. de Orrio, 1763
ORRIO, Francisco Xavier Alexo de (b. 1715). Solución del gran problema acerca de la población de las Americas. Mexico City: Imprenta Real del Superior Gobierno, 1763.

First edition of a work by a Jesuit philosopher regarding the origins of the human race in the Americas. The question of the origin of the American Indian had been of great concern to Spanish theologians from the early days of the conquest until well into the period of the Enlightenment, and Father Orrio’s work continued the tradition of thought that had developed from the great Las Casas-Sepulveda debates of the middle of the sixteenth century. A scarce work in the trade. JCB I:1364; Medina, Mexico 4840; Palau y Dulcet 204612; Sabin 750.

Quarto (184 x 132mm). Wormhole on inner margin affecting several pages; light dampstaining on lower left corner of 16 pages, with loss in one corner affecting catchword. 19th century sheep over marbled boards, speckled edges (spine a little rubbed; Zambrano library labels on back endpapers).