THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO, FOR DANISH (FEMALE?) READERS. 8vos., 2 vols in 1. (32), 478 pp; (2), 518 pp, (10). Bound in contemporary calf with spine richly gilt, including remains of lettered title. An excellent copy in its original binding, clean and fresh throughout. Extremely rare sole edition of this Danish translation of Antonio de Solis’ Historia de la conquista de México (1684), accomplished by a self-taught Norwegian woman-of-letters, Birgitte Lange (1714-1753). Solis’ account, focusing on the first three years of Cortes’ invasion, became an instant European best-seller and enjoyed rapid translations into French, Italian, and English; the present work, as far as we can tell, is the only extant translation into a Scandinavian language. Perhaps as a nod to her interest in encouraging female readership, Lange dedicates the work to Louise of Great Britain (r. 1724-1751), daughter of the Prince of Wales and Queen of Denmark-Norway. It is also interesting to note that the present work coincided with the heyday of the Danish West India Company in the mid-18th century. Lange was born in Norway and lived most of her life in Christiania [Oslo], remaining unmarried. Her continuous ill-health afforded her time for study; “she was an autodidact who learnt French, English, German and Italian without being tutored. She wanted also to learn Spanish, and when unable to get hold of any Spanish-language books in Christiania, she ordered from Brussels a Spanish-language account of the conquest of Mexico by Antonio de Solis, together with a lexicon, a grammar book and a few other ‘pieces’… with the aid also of an English version of de Solis’s work, Lange eventually produced a translation of the whole Brussels edition…” (Gina Dahl, p. 164). OCLC shows copies at the BnF and the Royal Danish Library only. Alden & Landis also record copies at the JCB, NYPL, and Texas. * Sabin 86492; Palau 318699; Alden & Landis 747/160; and cf Dahl, Libraries and Enlightenment: Eighteenth-Century Norway and the Outer World (2014), pp. 164-5.