Early Spanish work on piracy and the contemporary history of the Spanish presence in Africa by Diego de Fuentes (dates unknown). It starts with a chapter on the famous Ottoman corsair Dragut (1485-1565), who is considered the greatest pirate warrior of all time. Known as "The drawn sword of Islam", he was a renowned naval commander, praised for his sailing skills and knowledge of the Mediterranean. He sailed under Suleiman the Magnificent, and became Governor of Algiers and Pasha of Tripoli. The work tells of his imprisonment and subsequent escape, the campaigns to search for him, his becoming Lord of Africa, the Spanish armada landing in Africa, and the wars that ensued from it. It also includes a sonnet from Marcos Dorantes to De Fuentes, followed by an account of the rebellion of Sena.
Ad 2, by Pedro Valles (dates unknown), is a biography of Fernando dAvalos (1489-1525), a military leader who played an important role during the Italian wars (1494-1559). It is a translation from a part of Paolo Giovio's (1483-1552) Vitae (1549), and was first published in 1555. Ad 1 was first published in 1558 and is here present in second edition. The two works were always combined after 1558. The present edition is very scarce on the market, as we have only been able to find one other copy in sales records of the past hundred years.
The binding is somewhat rubbed, the front board has been scratched. The work is somewhat browned throughout, with water stains on some of the leaves, mostly in the margins, the title-page of ad 2 and the final leaf of ad 1 have been reinforced on the blank verso, leaf 8 and 161 of ad 2 have been reinforced in the margins, affecting the text, a brown ink stain on leaf 121 in ad 2, lacking leaf 176 in ad 2, ink scribblings in the margins of some of the leaves. Otherwise in good condition. CCPB, CCPB000027231-0; Peeters-Fontainas 1337; Salvá II, 3526; USTC 440219 (54 copies); ad 1: Palau V, 95398; ad 2: Palau XXV 350999.