First edition of the first biography of Don Duarte de Meneses (1414-1464), a Portuguese nobleman, who fought extensively in Morocco. According to Martins Costa, he was one of the most notable warriors of the late Middle Ages and managed to climb the social ladder because of his military prowess.
De Meneses, the illegitimate and only son of the governor of Ceuta, was already knighted at the age of 15 and made captain of the Portuguese garrison in Ceuta at the age of 16. In 1436, he led an attack on the Moroccan city Tétouan and fought in the battle of Tangier a year later, which the Portuguese lost. When his father died, De Meneses did not inherit the position of governor of Ceuta because of his bastard status. Instead, he held several other positions for shorter periods of time. He won the approval of King Afonso V of Portugal, because he fought on his side in the battle against Peter of Coimbra 1449. In 1458, Afonso V led an attack on the port Alcácer-Ceguer. The stronghold was taken and De Meneses was appointed the first governor. He defended it succesfully multiple times and was awarded new titles because of it.
De Meneses' life, death and military successes in North Africa are recounted in detail in this biography.
Augustin Manuel y Vasconcelos (1584-1641) was a Portuguese historian who wrote multiple works about the history of his country. He was not the first to write the biography of Duarte de Meneses.
With the bookplate of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo mounted on the front pastedown, a handwritten Spanish annotation with a short summary of different parts of the work in a 20th-century (?) hand on the second and third free flyleafs, and a small annotation in the top corner of the last pastedown ("50f"). The parchment is creased and dented, with some loss of material on the spine. With a waterstain in the lower corner of the first 20 leaves, a small pen mark on leaf 55 and 56, slight foxing and browning throughout. Otherwise in good condition. Iberian books B71213; Innocencio I, 196; Maggs 495, 565; Palau 150183; Reiss & Auvermann auction 40, 307/308; Salvá 3469; cf. Martins Costa, Duarte de Meneses (1414-1464): O sangue e as armas no final de Idade Média. In: E-strategica 2, 2018, p. 25-47.