Rare Latin Americana - William Reese Company

catalogue two hundred ninety - six
Rare
Latin Americana
W illiam R eese C ompany
409 Temple Street
New Haven, CT 06511
(203) 789-8081
A Note
This catalogue is devoted entirely to the history of Latin America, from the earliest European contacts through the latter part of the 19th century. Our last Latin
Americana catalogue (284) focused closely on the era of Revolution from 1808
until the 1830s, when Spanish control of its overseas empire collapsed, and most
of the countries from Mexico south achieved independence. While there is some
Revolutionary material here, this is far more broad-based. Within it are particularly
strong collections of material on Peru, Mexico, and Argentina, reflecting recent
acquisitions. In fact, most of the items listed here have not appeared in any of our
previous catalogues. Besides the items listed here, many less expensive pieces may
be found on our website at www.reeseco.com.
Available on request or via our website are our recent catalogues 288, The Ordeal of the
Union; 290, The American Revolution 1765-1783; 291, The United States Navy; 292, 96
American Manuscripts; 294, A Tribute to Wright Howes: Part I; 295, A Tribute to Wright
Howes: Part II, as well as Bulletins 24, Provenance; 25, American Broadsides; 26, American
Views; 27, Images of Native Americans, and many more topical lists.
Some of our catalogues, as well as some recent topical lists, are now posted on the
internet at www.reeseco.com. A portion of our stock may be viewed via links at www.
reeseco.com. If you would like to receive e-mail notification when catalogues and lists
are uploaded, please e-mail us at [email protected] or send us a fax, specifying whether
you would like to receive the notifications in lieu of or in addition to paper catalogues.
Terms
Material herein is offered subject to prior sale. All items are as described and are considered to be on approval. Notice of return must be given within ten days unless specific
arrangements are made. Connecticut residents must be billed state sales tax. Postage
and insurance charges are billed to all nonprepaid domestic orders. Overseas orders are
sent by air unless otherwise requested, with full postage charges billed at our discretion.
Payment by check, wire transfer or bank draft is preferred, but may also be made by
MasterCard or Visa.
William Reese Company
409 Temple Street
New Haven, CT 06511
www.williamreesecompany.com
Phone: (203) 789-8081
Fax: (203) 865-7653
E-mail: [email protected]
On the cover: [Colombia]: Castillo: Bogotá. La Plaza.... London. 1839.
Descendants of Montezuma Sue Descendants of Cortés
1. [Abrantes y Linares, Duque de]: [COLLECTION OF MANU-
SCRIPTS IN SPANISH FROM THE ARCHIVES OF THE DUKE
OF ABRANTES DOCUMENTING HIS FINANCIAL AFFAIRS
AND HIS LAWSUIT AGAINST THE CONDE DEL VALLE].
[Mexico. 1781-1783]. Twenty-five documents comprising [55]pp., plus additional contemporary wrapper inscribed: “1782 Mejico.” 36 folio and 19 quarto
pages written in several different hands. In fine condition. In a cloth clamshell
case, leather label.
A collection of twenty-five manuscripts in Spanish, many relating to a lawsuit over
lands in Mexico. These are probably connected to the lengthy and complicated suits
brought by the heirs of the last Aztec ruler, Montezuma, over their just inheritance,
which dragged on throughout the colonial period. The Dukes of Abrantes, ennobled
in the 17th century, were descended through the female line from Montezuma.
The Duke’s opponent, the Conde de Valle, was descended from Hernan Cortés,
ennobled as the Marques de Valle after the Conquest. This archive consists of letters to and from the Duke of Abrantes, with reference to his financial affairs and
his lawsuit against the Conde del Valle, whose “deliberate tricks for the purpose of
delaying the proceedings” are sternly censured by the Duke’s counsel. The majority
of the documents are dated 1782. References to the Valle case are found amongst
the Duke’s correspondence. For instance, the draft of one of his letters contains
the following personal commentary on the litigation (here in translation): “In spite
of my administrator’s best efforts and copious documentary evidence, the Count,
being well aware of the justice of my claims, seeks to delay the verdict, in which
conspiracy he is assisted by his aunt, the Marquesa de Salvatierra, who, I think, has
much influence with the ministers, and they are hoping to fleece me of large sums.”
The documents also relate to other matters in which the Duke was directly or
indirectly concerned, including an estate and the Hospicio de Nuestra Señora de
Cobadonga. The collection includes signed letters from the Duke, Pedro Alonso
de Alles, Juan Antonio de Elosua Abarratequi, Agustin de Compaxan, Antonio
Francisco del Rio, and Fray Antonio Blanco Valdes. $3750.
2. Acosta, Jose de: HISTOIRE NATURELLE ET MORALE DES IN-
DES, TANT ORIENTALES, QU’OCCIDENTALES; OU IL EST
TRAICTE DES CHOSES REMARQUABLES DU CIEL, DU ELEMENS, METAUX PLANTES, & ANIMAUX QUI SONT PROPRES DE CE PAYS; ENSEMBLE DES MOEURS, CEREMONIES,
LOIX, GOUVERNEMENS & GUERRES DES MESMES INDIENS. Paris. 1616. [8],375,[16] leaves. Early vellum. Titlepage slightly worn
at foredge. Scattered light soiling. Slight worming in gutter, not affecting
text; two wormholes through last few leaves, minutely affecting text in spots.
Bookplate of famous collector Alberto Parreno on verso of final leaf. Generally very good.
Fourth French edition of this most important source book on the Indians of Mexico
and Peru and on the natural history of South America. A Jesuit father, Acosta
spent seventeen years in American missions in Mexico and Peru between 1571 and
1588. While in Peru he was instrumental in founding the printing press there,
and its first productions, in 1585, were prepared by him. In addition to being an
accomplished linguist, Acosta was one of the first to formulate a systemic theory
of anthropology, suggesting a classification of different peoples into different types,
which foreshadowed later ideas of social evolution. “As a natural historian, Acosta
surpassed Oviedo. He took a philosophical approach to natural phenomena, searching for causes and effects in a spirit of critical inquiry....The subject of his moral
history is pre-Columbian civilizations, particularly the Aztecs and the Incas, whose
religions, customs, and governments he admiringly compares” – Delgado-Gomez.
“He provided great detail in his descriptions of sailing directions, mineral wealth,
trading commodities, Indian history, etc. Consequently his work operated more
strongly than any other in opening the eyes of the rest of Europe to the great wealth
that Spain was drawing from America” – Streeter.
Acosta was a keen observer of New World plants. He “mentions most of the
plants used in Peru as foodstuffs or as medicinals, and even the ornamentals. He
remarks that the Indians loved flowers just for their beauty” (Shaw). There are
also detailed discussions of plants exported to the Old World, such as ginger, and
the use of coca in Peru.
PALAU 1989. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 616/1. MEDINA (BHA) 330n. JCB (3)II:110. SABIN
125. STREETER SALE 32 (ref ). ARENTS 35 (another ed).
$3000.
3. Alcantana, Pedro: LIBRO EN QUE SE DA RAZÓN DE LOS CEN-
SOS, CAPELLANÍAS, COFRADÍAS, PRIMICIAS, Y SÍNODO
DEL CURATO DE LA MAGDALENA...1785 [manuscript title].
[Lima]. 1785. [1],94pp. Plus additional five leaves which may have been added
later. Folio. Contemporary limp vellum, remnants of string ties. Light soiling.
Very good.
A mixed manuscript register of accounts and inventories of the parish of Santa
María Magdalena from 1785, with later entries dated from 1808 through 1894,
principally comprising inventories, some of which contain annotations as to history
and locations. Irregularly ordered contents include income from bequests, rents,
payments of fees for masses and prayers, inventories of ornaments and vestments for
the church and for images, inventories of rents and ornaments of the brotherhoods
of the parish, declarations of the extent of the jurisdiction of the parish, census of
parishioners for 1797, and other miscellaneous notations.
Santa María de Magdalena was initially established as a Dominican monastery on
the outskirts of Lima in 1606 by provincial Fray Juan de Lorenzana and subsequently
evolved into a separate town of the same name. This document is extraordinarily
varied in content but provides an insight into multiple aspects of the functions of
a parish church in both late colonial and independent Peru. $1800.
4. Alvarez de Ron, Antonio Joseph: REPRESSENTACION JURIDICA,
ALLEGATO REVERENTE, QUE SE HAZE POR PARTE DE LAS
RELIGIONES DE ESTA NOBLE CAPITAL.... Lima: Francisco Sobrino en Calle de Barranca, 1747. [47]pp. Folio. Dbd. Some light soiling.
Very good.
Legal document regarding repairing the city after the Lima earthquake of 1746.
The author, who was born in Lima, was a physician at the Universidad de San
Marcos in Peru and a lawyer at the University of Lima. One copy on OCLC, at
the John Carter Brown Library.
MEDINA (LIMA) 983. VARGAS UGARTE 1558. OCLC 78040138.
$2000.
Route Guides in Mexico and the Southwest
5. Alvarez, José J., and Rafael Duran: ITINERARIOS Y DERROTEROS DE LA REPUBLICA MEXICANA. Mexico City. 1856. 480,[4]pp.
Several errors in pagination. Small quarto. Contemporary red half sheep and
boards, spine gilt. Boards and extremities rubbed. Contemporary bookplate on
front pastedown. Light toning and minor foxing. Very good.
“An important guide book, giving the routes and mileage, with sketches of the
country throughout Mexico” – Eberstadt. An extremely valuable compilation which
gives detailed data, including route, scenery, and other key information, about many
various parts of Mexico. By piecing together the different itineraries it offers, a
traveler could basically go anywhere in Mexico and into the U.S., already provided
with extremely detailed instructions about the best route and what facilities – such
as water, grass, and shelter – were available every step of the way. A detailed name
index listing routes and where they are to be found in the book further enhances
the volume’s usefulness for travelers, be they headed to destinations great or small.
Many of the routes described begin in Mexico City; some routes extend into Texas
and New Mexico. Among the most interesting are two itineraries concerning
California. One describes a journey from La Paz, at the far southern end of Baja
California, to the U.S. border. This is one of the most detailed and expansively
described routes in the entire book, preserving a wealth of geographic and natural
details. Many of the places detailed in this section have either disappeared or been
extensively altered. The other journey is along the Sonora Route, from Ures to
Sonora – to the California gold fields. This trip passes through Los Angeles and
includes some commentary on the missions in the area.
PALAU 9290. SABIN 976. EBERSTADT 138:033.
$2000.
6. Amat y Junient, Manuel de: CARTAS DEL EXCELENTÍSIMO SE-
ÑOR VIRREY AL SEÑOR TAGLE SOBRE VARIOS ASUNTOS
DE LAS COMISIONES DE POTOSÍ...[manuscript title]. Lima.
1767-1770. 54 folio leaves. Light soiling to a few leaves. Slight worming,
heavier in parts, sometimes affecting portions of text. Generally quite clean
and in a clear hand. About very good.
Correspondence of Viceroy Manuel de Amat y Junient with Pedro de Tagle y Sánchez, who was commissioned to organize the silver production of Potosí. This item
is comprised of fifty-two letters in secretarial hand, signed by Amat and dated in
Lima, November 14, 1767 to August 14, 1770. The correspondence covers a wide
variety of administrative matters: criminal cases, accounting, shipping, collections,
quicksilver, silver production, drainage of mines, taxation, overland shipments to
Buenos Aires, appointments, and mails. These are, effectively, one side of a conversation in that the correspondence from Tagle to Amat referred to by the latter
is not present. The collection demonstrates the intensity of the administration of
Amat in all affairs of his viceroyalty.
The great mountain of silver, Potosí, was known during the conquest of Peru,
but until the introduction of the amalgamation process in the mid-16th century it
was largely underexploited. With the added discovery of quicksilver at Huancavelica
in 1545, the essential element for extraction of silver was readily available – even in
quantities to permit its export for use in the silver mines of New Spain. Between
1550 and 1560 the mines became the most important in the world for silver production, and in 1572 a mint was established in Potosí. Bars of silver were shipped to
Spain via Callao and Panamá, attracting numerous pirates to the sea lanes along the
Pacific Coast and the trade-fair city of Portobelo in Panamá. Initiated by Francis
Drake in 1578 and continued by Thomas Cavendish in 1587, the silver galleons
became prime targets for English, Dutch, and French raiders until trans-Andean
overland shipping routes through Tucumán to Buenos Aires were established in
the late 17th century.
Manuel de Amat y Junient (1704-82), knight of the Order of San Juan de Jerusalén
serving on Malta (1721), served with distinction in Africa in 1736 and in Italy,
and was appointed Captain General of Chile and president of the Royal Appeals
Court in 1755. In 1761 he was promoted to the viceroyalty of Peru, and in 1767
he oversaw the expulsion of the Society of Jesus and occupation of their properties.
In 1768 he was responsible for the construction of the Lima bullring, in 1770 for
establishment of the San Carlos boarding school in the former Jesuit novitiate, the
parkway and avenue of the Alameda in 1772, and the improved fortification of the
Real Felipe in 1774. He was famed for his relationship with his mistress, singer
and actress Micaela Villegas, “La Perricholi.” Prior to his return to Spain in 1776
he ordered the paving and illumination of streets in Lima.
Pedro de Tagle y Sánchez (1722-96) studied in the Royal College of San Martín
and University of San Marcos, receiving the title of doctor in laws and canons in
1741. He traveled to Spain where he was received in the Order of Calatrava in
1749 and elected judge of the Royal Appeals Court of Charcas, in Bolivia. He was
commissioned to reorganize the silver bank in Potosí, and subsequently wrote the
regulations for the Royal Mint of Potosí. He went to Lima in 1778 as criminal
magistrate and was governor-intendant in Huancavelica from 1789 to 1790. He
was retired with the honor of Councilor of the Indies.
The file reflects the intense administrative activity of an important Enlightenment viceroy. $5750.
Record of Female Patients in Peru
7. Arana: Benito Juan Calvo: LIBRO PARA HASENTAS LAS POBRES
DEL HOSPITAL D. NS.A S.RA DE LA CARIDAD...[manuscript
title]. [Lima]. 1758-1760. 98 leaves. Folio. Contemporary vellum with pigskin closures, lettered on cover. Light foxing and soiling; some offsetting and
bleed-through, heavy in parts. Good.
Detailed register of poor women treated at the Royal Hospital of Santa María of
Charity and Mercy between September 1, 1758 and October 8, 1760, noting that
eighty women were interned at the opening date. Contains entries for 2,139 women
admitted, with name, status (married, widow, single, child, etc.), place of origin,
address, date of entry, bed number, and occasionally other details such as ailment,
dress, death, etc. The Royal Hospital of Santa María of Charity and Mercy was
established for Spanish women and strongly supported by viceroy Marqués de
Mancera (1638-48). Its church was the site of an inquisition auto de fe in 1666.
Because of the detailed information it contains, this file is of importance for
the study of the situation of women in 18th-century Peru. $4500.
8. [Argentina]: A NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION TO, AND
THE STORMING OF BUENOS AYRES, BY THE BRITISH
ARMY, COMMANDED BY LIEUTENANT-GENERAL WHITELOCK. By an Officer, Attached to the Expedition. Bath: William
Meyler, 1807. [2],38pp. Lacks engraved plan. Modern red cloth, spine gilt.
Minor foxing to titlepage, else quite clean. Very good.
An anonymous straight-forward account of the British attack on Buenos Aires in
1807, written “without any flourishing or prolix declamation on the calamities of
war, the effects of courage, or the pursuit of wealth and fame.” The unidentified
author includes extensive details on the final engagements leading to the defeat
of the British troops under Lieut. Gen. John Whitelocke by the Spanish citizen
army of Creoles and peasants under the command of Santiago de Liniers. Forced
to withdraw from Buenos Aires after this defeat, Whitelocke was court-martialed
and cashiered. An intriguing record of the British engagement in Buenos Aires
with an unusual Bath imprint for such a work. OCLC records only five copies.
SABIN 51805. ALBERICH 1247.
$675.
9. [Argentina]: REGISTRO ESTADISTICO DE LA PROVINCIA DE
BUENOS AIRES. Buenos Aires: Imprenta de la Independencia, 1822-1823.
208,193-200,31pp. Nos. 1-12. Nos. 1-10 paged continuously, pages of No. 11
misnumbered, pages of No. 12 numbered correctly [1]-31 for second year of
publication. The first eleven numbers were issued monthly February through
December 1822; the twelfth issue was published March 1823. Contemporary
diced sheep, black leather label stamped in gilt. Outer joints and spine worn.
Minor foxing and dampstaining. Very good.
The extremely rare initial twelve issues of the first statistical register for the province
of Buenos Aires. The publication was created by government decree on December
13, 1821, reprinted here in the first issue published on February 15, 1822. The
Registro Estadistico... was charged with publishing statistics documenting conditions
throughout the province, with additional causes, notes, and observations. The issues are a fascinating compilation of facts and figures regarding all aspects of life
in Buenos Aires in the early period of independence. On a regular basis, data
concerning geography, meteorology, the movement of populations, and hospitals
were recorded. Other areas documented in these issues include commerce, means
of production, and education (including courses taught at the university).
An extremely rare government publication documenting the political economy
of Buenos Aires in the early 1820s. OCLC lists nine locations for the register, but
only Cornell for the earliest issues.
SABIN 68831. PALAU 253761.
$1000.
10. [Argentina]: [GROUP OF SIX LITHOGRAPHIC VIGNETTES
OF SCENES IN AND AROUND BUENOS AIRES]. Buenos Aires: R.
Kratzenstein, [ca. 1855]. Lithographs, measuring on average 3½ x 6½ inches,
on slips of blue or white paper, likely clipped from the top of pictorial letter
sheets. Light edge wear. Very good. Matted.
An attractive group of lithographic vignettes of scenes in and around Buenos Aires.
These images were published by Rodolfo Kratzenstein, who was one of the leading
lithographers in Buenos Aires from the mid-1850s, and are likely from pictorial
letter sheets issued by his firm in that period. One illustration shows a long stretch
of the cityscape of Buenos Aires from the harbor, and several ships are shown in
the choppy waters of the port. Other images show the “Casa de Justicia” (the
courts) and the “Palermo” neighborhood. Two other images (one of them here in
two examples) show scenes in the countryside outside Buenos Aires, both of them
depicting men on horseback dealing with wagons in difficult terrain. Pictorial letter
sheets from Argentina are uncommon, and these are attractive images. $1250.
Conversion of the Indians in Mexico, 1638
11. [Armendáriz, Lope Díez de]: DON LOPE DIEZ DE ARMENDARIZ,
MARQUES DE CADEREYTA...SOBRE DOS FUNDAMENTOS
PRINCIPALES...EL REY NUESTRO SEÑOR, Y SUS GLORIOSOS PROGENITORES, HAN HECHO DESPACHAR...A RODO
AQUELLO QUE HA MIRADO, Y MIRA LA PUBLICACION, Y
AMPLIFICACION DE LA LEY EUANGELICA, Y LA CONUERSION DE LOS INDIOS A NUESTRA SANTA FÈ CATOLICA...
[caption title]. [Mexico. July 28, 1638]. [4]pp. In Spanish. Folio. Dbd. Early
folds, early marginal graffiti and stains. Very good.
A very rare Mexican imprint, apparently unrecorded, establishing a new board of
royal patronage for the evangelization of Indians, by order of the Marqués de Cadereyta, Viceroy of New Spain. The main portion of the text, signed in print by
the viceroy, recites an ecclesiastical history of the Spanish New World, beginning
with the 1493 Bull of Pope Alexander VI. It concludes with an announcement
that the viceroy has assembled a new religious council from the “best ministers of
the kingdom” to help establish public peace and assist New Spain’s churches in the
conversion of Indians to the Catholic faith. The second part of the document names
the eighteen scholars, government ministers, and clerics appointed to the council.
Both parts are signed in print by viceroyal secretary Dionisio de Suescun and dated
July 28, 1638. Lope Díez de Armendáriz, Marqués de Cadereyta (b. 1575), was
the first American-born viceroy of New Spain; he ruled from 1635 to 1640. This
imprint was unknown to Medina and has not been located in any other standard
references or collections. $3500.
12. [Arnauld, Antoine]: HISTOIRE DE DOM JEAN DE PALAFOX,
EVEQUE D’ANGELOPOLIS, & DEPUIS D’OSME. ET DES DIFFERENS QU’IL A EUS AVEC LES PP. JESUITES. [Amsterdam?].
1690. [20],478,[2]pp. Lacks half title. Later half calf and marbled boards,
spine gilt, leather label. Rubbed at extremities. Contemporary notations on
titlepage. Minor foxing and soiling. Very good.
An anti-Jesuit biography of Juan de Palafox y Mendoza (1600-59), who was Bishop
of Puebla, Mexico from 1640 to 1655. During his term as bishop, Palafox distinguished himself by taking steps to protect the local indigenous peoples from harsh
conversion tactics, which, among other things, caused serious conflict with the Jesuits. Palafox laid an interdict against the Jesuits in 1647, filing formal complaints
against them with Rome in 1647 and 1649; the Jesuits, in return, excommunicated
him. In 1655 the two parties signed an accord, though disagreements continued,
and the Jesuits secured his transfer to a small see in Spain that same year. Cayetana
Alvarez de Toldeo, in her recent book on Palafox, cites the imprint of the present
work as Madrid, though given that it is in French, the citation in European Americana (used here) seems more likely.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 690/9. SABIN 58293. Cayetana Alvarez de Toldeo, Politics and Reform
in Spain and Viceregal Mexico (2004), p.211.
$1500.
13. Arteaga, Francisco: ORACION PANEGYRICA EN HAZIMIENTO
DE GRACIAS DEL CAPITULO, QUE CELEBRO LA PROVINCIA DE LA SS. TRINIDAD DEL REYNO DE CHILE, EL DIA 12
DE OCTUBRE DE ESTE ANO DE 1715. Lima: Geronimo de Contreras, 1715. [32]pp. Small quarto. Dbd. Some slight worming, minutely affecting
text; very light soiling. Trimmed closely, minutely affecting marginal text on
one leaf. Very good.
Sermon from the Contreras press, founded by Geronimo de Contreras, Sr. in 1621.
With his son and grandson following in the business, the Contreras press was the
most active printing press in early colonial Peru. Only one copy on OCLC, at the
John Carter Brown Library.
MEDINA (LIMA) 750. VARGAS UGARTE 1191. OCLC 78594588.
$1200.
14. Azamór y Ramirez, Manuel: EL SALMO MISERERE PUESTO EN
DEVOTAS DECIMAS Y DEDICADO A JESUCHRISTO CRUCIFICADO. Reimpreso en dicha Ciudad [i.e. Buenos Aires]. 1797. [24]pp.
Contemporary limp suede. Outer corners of text block rounded; small tear to
foredge. Titlepage moderately soiled; light soiling throughout. Contemporary
inscription on verso of titlepage and at foot of last leaf. About good.
This version of the famous psalm was very popular in Buenos Aires, no doubt for
the simplicity of the style and metric, which is one of the most pleasing to Spanish
ears. The translator, bishop of Buenos Aires for ten years, died in Buenos Aires on
October 2, 1796; this reprint can therefore be seen as homage to his good memory.
No copies on OCLC.
GUTIERREZ, BUENOS AIRES 85. FURLONG 504.
$1800.
Important Work on the Brazilian Sugar Trade
15. Azeredo Coutinho, Jose Joaquim de Cunha de: ENSAIO ECONOM-
ICO SOBRE O COMERCIO DE PORTUGAL E SUAS COLONIAS. Lisbon. 1794. [8],iii,153,[4]pp. Half title. Small quarto. 19th-century
black polished calf and marbled boards, spine gilt, leather label. Bookplate of
John Carter Brown on front pastedown, with his ink stamp on fourth leaf.
Some light soiling on half title, else internally clean. Very good, untrimmed.
The scarce first edition of the “best known work by Azeredo Coutinho, the controversial figure of the Brazilian Enlightenment” (Borba de Moraes). Azeredo Coutinho
(1742-1821) was a “member of the new rich sugar aristocracy of the Campos dos
Goitacazes in Rio de Janeiro, [who] held many important ecclesiastical posts in Brazil
and in Portugal and repeatedly prodded the government to undertake reforms that
would benefit the economies of both the kingdom and her most vital colony. Thus,
in 1791 he strongly opposed new price restrictions on sugar, arguing that higher
prices would allow Brazilians to buy more goods from Portugal. Three years later
he published a series of reform proposals in ‘An Economic Essay on the Commerce of
Portugal and Her Colonies,’ in which he revived the century-old argument that the
‘true mines’ of Brazil were her agricultural resources, not the gold placers which
had produced illusory gains” (Cambridge History).
Like many works of this time period, this piece was probably written in Brazil
and then printed in Lisbon, as there was no printing press in Brazil itself until 1808.
An interesting look at the economics of the sugar trade in Brazil.
BORBA DE MORAES, p.309. SABIN 17949. Cambridge History of Latin America II, pp.657-58.
$3750.
A Wonderful Buenos Aires Illustrated Work
on Early Life in Argentina
16. Bacle, Adrienne Macaire, and Cesár Hipólito: TRAGES Y COSTUMBRES DE LA PROVINCIA DE BUENOS AIRES. [Buenos Aires.
1833-1835]. Six parts bound in one volume. Thirty-six lithographed plates
after Bacle, each captioned in Spanish beneath the image. Small folio. Expertly
bound to style in half tan calf over contemporary blue paper-covered boards,
spine gilt. Contemporary ink manuscript English annotations in lower margins.
Very good. Provenance: Jonathan W. Ross.
The first edition of this rare and lovely collection of views of life in Argentina,
depicting the costume of local vendors, cattlemen and other street life along with
plates of ladies’ fine dress for church and the promenade. The work was produced
by the lithography firm Bacle y Co., the first lithographic shop in Buenos Aires,
and this is one of the earliest illustrated books produced there. Issued in six parts
(although a seventh part was apparently planned, all copies are comprised of six
parts), each set of lithographs covers a different aspect of Argentine society. The
first group covers low trades, such as washerwoman and various street vendors; the
second set shows six different types of ladies’ costume; the third depicts various
professions on horseback, including a gaucho and a milk delivery woman. The final
three sets show more complex images, with the fourth group of lithographs showing the large-wheeled carts used in Buenos Aires to ferry passengers in across the
mudflats from the ships at port; the fifth group is all caricatures showing the overly
large hair combs the fine ladies wore, illustrating how ridiculous and impractical
they were; the final set depicts various lively scenes, such as the interior of a grocery
store and the branding of cattle.
This work is quite rare: ABPC shows only two copies at auction in the last thirty
years, and OCLC locates only five copies, none of which appears to have all six
parts. Not in Palau.
HILER, p.850. COLAS 2905.
$35,000.
17. Barba, Alvaro Alonso: ARTE DE LOS METALES, EN QUE SE
ENSEÑA EL VERDADERO BENEFICIO DE LOS DE ORO Y
PLATA POR AZOGUE, EL MODO DE FUNDIRLOS TODOS, Y
COMO SE HAN DE REFINAR Y APARTAR UNOS DE OTROS.
Lima: Imprenta de los Huerfanos, 1817. [4],271,[7]pp. Several errors in pagination. Small quarto. Ex-lib. Contemporary limp vellum. Vellum lightly soiled.
Dampstaining to first two leaves, some minor soiling. Very good.
The first Latin American and only Lima printing of this celebrated treatise on mining
and metallurgy. First published in Madrid in 1640, this is the first significant work
on the subject in Spanish, and the first work on mining in the Americas. Alvaro
Alonso Barba (1569-1662), of Andalusian origin, took orders and departed for
South America in 1588. He was pastor in Potosi, Peru, the center of an important
mining region, where he could observe all the latest technological developments in
the field of mining. While in Peru, he studied mineralogy and the art of extracting
and testing the silver, so abundant in Potosi. Upon publication his book was an
immediate success and was subsequently published in English, French and German.
MEDINA (LIMA) 3325. VARGAS UGARTE 4361. PALAU 23626.
$4000.
One of the Foundation Works of the History of the New World
18. Benzoni, Girolamo: LA HISTORIA DEL MONDO NUOVO...LA
QUAL TRATTA DELL’ ISOLE, & MARI NUOVAMENTE RITROVATI, & DELLE NUOVE CITTÀ DA LUI PROPRIO VEDUTE, PER ACQUA & PER TERRA IN QUATTORDECI ANNI.
Venetia: Francesco Rampazetto, 1565. [4],175 leaves, including numerous intext woodcuts. Woodcut titlepage portrait. Small octavo. 19th-century Italian
vellum, gilt label. Early ownership signature on front free endpaper. Titlepage
repaired along gutter, with a few other small repairs. Some minor worming,
occasionally repaired. Trimmed close, touching the running headlines in a few
instances. Very good.
The first edition of this important early account of the New World, the first significant work based on firsthand observation by a non-Spaniard. Benzoni’s history of
the New World was one of the most widely disseminated texts of its day. Born in
Milan, Benzoni spent fourteen years travelling through the Americas, beginning in
1541. He was familiar with the Antilles, Guatemala, and the west coast of South
America, and gives a description of these regions, as well as a history from the arrival of Columbus to the conquest of Peru. Engaged in commerce, Benzoni quickly
grew to hate the Spanish and their administration, and he treats them unfavorably
in his text. He denounces the Spanish for their treatment of the Indians, and for
their importation of slaves to America. The numerous woodcuts in the text depict
Indians, their dwellings and activities, and a good portion of the text describes
Indian life before it became too corrupted by European contact. Benzoni’s work
is also notable for containing an early account of the use of tobacco, and a few of
the woodcuts show cocoa and banana trees, and other American plants and trees.
“[The work] contains interesting details about the countries he visited, but
abounds in errors and often in intentional misstatements. What Benzoni states
about the Antilles is a clumsy rehash of Las Casas. His reports on the conquests
of Mexico and Peru bristle with errors” – Catholic Encyclopedia. Despite his inaccuracies, the wide distribution of his book made Benzoni the single most influential
figure in describing the New World to Europe in the mid-16th century. His work
went through many printings, though Arents notes that “it appears never to have
been permitted to circulate in Spain.” Its final, and perhaps most influential, version
was as parts IV-VI of De Bry’s Grand Voyages, where its anti-Spanish slant helped
to advance the “Black Legend” of Spanish depravity in the New World.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 565/2. SABIN 4790. MEDINA (BHA) I:418. BELL B197. STREIT
II:789. ARENTS 10. BRITISH MUSEUM, ITALIAN BOOKS, p.85.
$28,000.
With Extraordinary Full Period Hand-Coloring
19. Benzoni, Girolamo: De Bry, Theodor and Johann Theodor: DAS VIERDTE BVCH VON DER NEVWEN WELT. [bound with:] AMERICÆ DAS FÜNFF TE BUCH.... Frankfurt: Johann Feyrabend, 1594,
1594-1595. Two parts bound in one volume. Titlepages, and two section titles
to both parts with pasted on paper panels bearing the titles, all within an engraved surround (as issued); full-page engraving of arms. Two folding engraved
maps (the first: Burden 83), half-page portrait of Christopher Columbus, two
half-page engraved emblematic illustrations, forty-six half-page engraved illustrations, woodcut headpieces, all with period hand-coloring. Folio. Expertly
bound to style in 16th-century vellum. Very good.
A very fine copy of the German edition of Parts IV and V of De Bry’s celebrated
Grand Voyages, here with the plates and titlepages with remarkable contemporary
hand-coloring. In these two parts De Bry reprints the first two sections of Girolamo
Benzoni’s work on the Spanish conquest of the West Indies, which was first published
in Italian in Venice in 1565 under the title Historia del Mondo Nuovo. The De Bry
edition is notable for its spectacular illustrations and its fine maps of the Indies.
The illustrations are comprised as follows: Part IV with twenty-four colored plates
plus two half-page colored plates in the text (one showing Columbus’ landing), plus
a colored folding map of the Caribbean; Part V with twenty-two colored plates,
plus a half-page colored portrait of Columbus and a folding colored map of Mexico.
The three parts that make up De Bry’s rendition of Benzoni (the first two of
which are present here) record the events surrounding Columbus’ discovery, relations
with Native Americans, atrocities committed by Indians and Europeans, Pizarro’s
exploits in Peru, etc. Chauveton’s anti-Spanish slant provided De Bry with the gory
details of Spanish barbarity which are brought to life in the meticulous engravings
that illustrate this volume. De Bry’s sensationally illustrated edition of Benzoni
has stood as a solid landmark of illustrated Americana. Such scenes as Columbus’
meeting with Ferdinand and Isabella, or the Spanish atrocities toward the Peruvian
Indians, though not based on firsthand experience, have survived the centuries
largely for their compelling visual rendition of events. The first part includes a
detailed and handsome folding map of the West Indies, “Occidentalis Americae
partis...Anno MDXCIIII,” which depicts the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico from
northern Florida to the South American coast. The second part contains a folding
map of Mexico, “Hispanae Novae sive Magnae, recens et vera descriptio.”
Theodor De Bry “was born in 1528 and died in 1598, after having published
Parts I to VI of the Great Voyages. He was a skillful engraver, and many of the
plates in these parts were from his own burin....After the death of Theodor De Bry
the series was continued by his widow and two sons, Johann Theodor and Johann
Israel De Bry, who in 1599 issued Parts VII and VIII, and in 1602, Part IX. With
this part it is presumed the publishers intended to close the series, as it bears the
title: Nona & Postrema Pars” (Church). This part was first published in both Latin
and German between 1590 and 1595.
At the time this work was published, hand-coloring was an expensive luxury
applied only to works that were intended for the highest echelons of society, either
as commissions or as gifts. The coloring in the present example is evidently the
work of a professional, and the work would clearly have originally resided in one
of the great libraries of Europe.
CHURCH 183, 186. HOWGEGO B171. SABIN 8784.
$90,000.
20. Bertolini, Serafino: LA ROSA PERUANA OVERO VITA DELLA
SPOSA DI CHRISTO SUOR ROSA DI SANTA MARIA NATIVA
DELLA CITTA DI LIMA NEL REGNO DEL PERU, DEL TERZ’
ORDINE DI SAN DOMENICO. Rome. 1666. [14],615,[1]pp. plus engraved frontispiece portrait. Small quarto. Contemporary limp vellum, spine
lettered. Light soiling to vellum; portion of spine chipped. Remnants of later
paper label on spine. Light foxing and tanning. Very good.
Biography of Saint Rose of Lima (1586-1617), the first Catholic saint of the Americas.
Rose, born Isabel Flores de Oliva, was born in Lima. She was canonized in 1671 by
Pope Clement X, the first saint from the Western Hemisphere. Only three copies
on OCLC, at the Newberry, New York Public, and John Carter Brown libraries.
PALAU 28497. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 666/5. OCLC 28983049.
$2000.
Bolivar Resigns as President of Gran Columbia – But Not Really
21. Bolivar, Simón: A.S.E. EL PRESIDENT DE LA HONORABLE
CAMARA DEL SEANDO. EXCMO. SEÑOR. EN NINGUNA CIRCUNSTANCIA ERA TAN NECESARIA A LA REPUBLICA LA
AUGUSTA AUTORIDAD DEL COONGRESO, COMO EN ESTA
EPOCA EN QUE LOS DISTURBIOS INTERNOS...[caption title
and part of first line of text]. Caracas. Feb. 6, 1827. [2]pp. plus integral
blank. Folio. Old fold; slight separation at fold. Light creasing. Very good. In
a half morocco box.
In this apparently unique broadsheet, Simón Bolivar tenders his resignation as
president of Gran Colombia to the Congress in Caracas, Venezuela. By 1827 internal conflicts and political pressures were threatening the stability of the Republic
Bolivar had created, Gran Colombia (present-day Panama, Colombia, Ecuador,
Venezuela, and parts of Peru). In an attempt to pacify dissenters and preserve the
fragile federation, Bolivar addressed the Congress, offering to step aside and assuring
the people that he had no plans to declare himself as absolute ruler.
In this address Bolivar points to the fact that Gran Colombia is in an advantageous position, recognized by the United States and with Great Britain threatening war with Spain. Despite a rosy outlook, Bolivar notes that suspicions that El
Libertador will exert himself as a tyrannical dictator continue to plague the political
environment. Thus – in the tradition of George Washington – he is resigning from
office. He writes (in translation): “In vain do I invoke the example of Washington
to defend myself....” Though he is not innocent of ambition, Bolivar wishes to
“remove my fellow citizens from the claws of this fury, and free them from uneasiness.” Declaring his renunciation to be irrevocable, he writes: “My sword and my
heart will nevertheless be for Colombia; and with my last breath I will ask heaven
to grant her happiness.”
Despite this declaration, the Congress refused to accept Bolivar’s resignation.
Unable to settle on a new constitution and form of government, the Constitutional
Convention of 1828 fell apart and Bolivar proclaimed himself dictator for life on
August 27th. Intended to be a temporary measure to stabilize the government,
this move resulted in an assassination attempt just a month later. Bolivar died two
years later of tuberculosis.
Not located in any of the usual sources, including Palau and OCLC. An important piece of South American history. $17,500.
Bolivar Announces He is Appointing Himself Dictator for Life
22. Bolivar, Simón: SIMON BOLIVAR LIBERTADOR PRESIDENTE
DE COLOMBIA &&&. COLOMBIANOS! LAS VOLUNTADES
PUBLICAS SE HABIAN ESPRESADO ENERJICAMENTE POR
LAS REFORMAS POLITICAS DE LA NACION...[caption title and
first line of text]. Bogota. Aug. 27, 1828. [1]p. plus integral blank. [with:]
SIMON BOLIVAR LIBERTADOR PRESIDENTE DE LA REPUBLICA DE COLOMBIA...DECRETO ORGÁNICO...[caption title].
[4]pp. Folio. Old creases. Minor soiling. Very good plus. In a half morocco
and cloth box, leather labels.
An extremely rare broadside printing of Bolivar’s declaration of dictatorial powers, addressed to the people of Gran Colombia, together with the Decreto Orgánico
issued by him, outlining the organization of his new government. The two documents – bearing the same watermark, folds, and publication date – appear to have
been issued together to the Treasury; a contemporary hand has written “Tesoreria”
on the first leaf, and the wear patterns suggest that they have been kept together
for some time.
Simon Bolivar was already president and founding hero of Gran Colombia
(present-day Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and parts of Peru). In February
1827, with the nation floundering and on the point of fragmentation, Bolivar had
proposed resigning his position as president, claiming he had no desire for dictatorial control. The Congress rejected his resignation. After a failed constitutional
convention in the summer of 1828, Bolivar declared himself, by this decree, dictator for life, in what was intended as a temporary measure to maintain unification.
In the first document, Bolivar addresses the “Colombianos,” explaining his
reasoning for the extraordinary measures granting him absolute power over the
government. He also assures his countrymen that he will not remain a dictator
any longer than necessary, but in the meantime pledges to “commit myself to obey
strictly your legitimate desires” (in translation). The second document, the Decreto
Orgánico, lays out six articles granting Bolivar absolute power. Both are signed in
type by Bolivar.
Though the text of these important proclamations was anthologized at an early
date and has frequently been republished, copies are exceedingly scarce on the
market. We were able to locate only one institutional copy of each, at the John
Carter Brown Library.
PALAU 32190. POSADA, BOGOTANA 1042.
$17,500.
23. Boturini Benaduci, Lorenzo: IDEA DE UNA NUEVA HISTORIA
GENERAL DE LA AMERICA SEPTENTRIONAL. FUNDADA
SOBRE MATERIAL COPIOSO DE FIGURAS, SYMBOLOS,
CARACTERES, Y GEROGLISICOS, CANTARES, Y MANUSCRITOS DE AUTORES INDIOS.... Madrid: Juan de Zuniga, 1746.
[40],167,[8],96pp. plus frontispiece and portrait. Small quarto. Full blue morocco by Emile Roussell, tooled in gilt, gilt inner dentelles. Extremities lightly
rubbed. Bookplate on front pastedown. Minor scattered foxing. Very good.
An interesting and important work, to which is appended the “Catalogo del Museu
Historico Indiano...,” listing the superb collection of manuscripts, maps, and books
which the author assembled during his eight years of residence in Mexico. Benaduci
exerted great effort toward the collection of primary materials, learning the native
languages, and making friends with the natives. Unfortunately, his marvelous library
was confiscated by the Viceroy of Mexico, and due to neglect and abuse, is now
virtually lost but for a small residue preserved in the Bibliothèque Nationale. “No
collection of Mexican native materials before or since has equalled [it]...” – Griffin.
SABIN 6834. MEDINA (BHA) 3408. GRIFFIN 1360. FIELD 159.
$2500.
24. Bouso Varela, Joaquin: ORACION PANEGYRICA, CON QUE LA
REAL UNIVERSIDAD DE SAN MARCOS DE LIMA, CAPITAL
DEL PERÚ CELEBRÓ EN SU RECIBIMIENTO AL EX.MO SEÑOR DON MANUEL DE GUIRIOR.... Lima: En la Imprenta de los
Ninos Huerfanos, 1778. [159]pp. Small quarto. Later marbled wrappers. Some
light soiling. Ex-lib. stamp covered over with white-out on titlepage. Very
good.
Oration and poetry celebrating the visit of Manuel de Guirior, Viceroy of Peru.
Five copies are listed on OCLC.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1440. VARGAS UGARTE 2188. PALAU 34090.
$1900.
25. Bravo de Lagunas y Castilla, Pedro Joseph: DISCURSO HISTORI-
CO JURIDICO DEL ORIGEN, FUNDACION, REEDIFICACION, DERECHOS, Y EXENCIONES DEL HOSPITAL DE SAN
LAZARO DE LIMA. Lima: Oficina de los Huerphanos, 1761. [34],272pp.
Several errors in pagination. Small quarto. Contemporary half calf and patterned boards, spine gilt, leather label, edges stained red. Boards worn at
extremities, calf slightly wormed. Staining to inner margin of the first and
last exterior leaves, else quite clean. Very good.
The first edition of this interesting medical work. The work refers to the history
and foundation of the Hospital de San Lazaro (founded 1563), which was devoted
to “take [in] the leprous who are not slaves.” It provides a complete description of
the relations between the Church and the Hospital, as well as medical data about
leprosy and its spread. Curiously enough, chapter six is dedicated to bullfighting
in Peru, presumably due to the fact that bullfighting was a way of financing the
Hospital’s expenses. Only a handful of copies on OCLC.
SABIN 7462. MEDINA (LIMA) 1169. PALAU 34802. OCLC 14313147.
$3000.
A Major Archive of Early Buenos Aires Imprints
26. [Buenos Aires Imprints]: [BOUND COLLECTION OF 224 SOUTH
AMERICAN IMPRINTS, INCLUDING 218 INDIVIDUAL TITLES PRINTED IN BUENOS AIRES BETWEEN 1807 AND
1809]. Buenos Aires. 1807-1809. Three bound volumes, plus nine unbound
or disbound pamphlets, for a total of 224 separate imprints (including one Rio
de Janeiro imprint, two Spanish imprints, and two Buenos Aires duplicates).
All items but one (the Rio de Janeiro imprint at the beginning of the first
volume, printed in Portuguese and French) printed in Spanish. Small quarto.
Contemporary vellum, original leather ties, contemporary ink manuscript titles
on spines. Vellum slightly soiled. In fine condition.
An extraordinary archive of Buenos Aires imprints, composed primarily of newsletters printed at the Imprenta Niños Expòsitos between June 1807 and November
1809. The collection represents over one quarter of the entire recorded output of
the Buenos Aires press during this period and constitutes a major archive of news
stories extracted from Spanish, Portuguese, English, and Brazilian sources and
printed for Argentine readers during a pivotal period in the region’s history. The
news accounts, together with a significant number of manifestos, poems, proclamations, and decrees, cover the invasions and defeats of the British at Montevideo
and Buenos Aires in 1807, the collapse of the Spanish monarchy in 1808, Spanish
efforts against Napoleonic rule, and the battles and effects of the Napoleonic wars
in Europe and the Americas – crucial events in the formation of Argentine selfdetermination and eventual independence from Spain. The first and third volumes
of the collection are largely devoted to newsletters, while the second volume contains
a number of separate pamphlets, manifestos, and political statements.
Virtually all of the imprints in the collection are listed in Guillermo Furlong’s
authoritative Historia y Bibliografía de las Primeras Imprentas Rioplatenses. Exceptions include an anti-Napoleonic manifesto printed in Rio de Janeiro (Volume 1,
item 1); two pamphlets printed for the Spanish government-in-exile at Cadiz (Volume 2, items 84 and 89); and two items not bearing a publisher’s imprint, but for
which context, paper, and printing style all suggest a Buenos Aries origin (Volume
1, item 56, and Volume 3, item 71). A detailed list of the imprints is available on
request. $65,000.
One of the Most Important Chronicles of Peruvian History
27. Calancha, Antonio de la: CORONICA MORALIZADA DEL
ORDEN DE SAN AUGUSTIN EN EL PERU, CON SUCESOS
EGENPLARES VISTOS EN ESTA MONARQUIA. Barcelona. 1638.
[28],884,883-922,[27]pp. plus added engraved titlepage and one folding plate.
Last two leaves provided in expert facsimile. Folio. Contemporary vellum, calf
spine with leather label. Engraved titlepage trimmed and mounted; letterpress
titlepage heavily worn and repaired in similar fashion. Moderate to heavy toning, dampstaining, and soiling. Last few leaves heavily wormed, affecting some
text. Small tear to edge of plate; trimmed closely and mounted. About good.
First edition of this Peruvian Chronicle, one of the rarest referring to the history
of Peru. It deals with the creation of the different churches and religious houses
in Peru, but it also describes meticulously the most important historical events up
to 1638. Born in Chuquisaca (1584), Antonio de la Calancha was an Augustinian
religious man who died in Lima (1654). Our copy has the rare historiated frontispiece and the extraordinary plate representing the martyrdom of Father Diego Ortiz
in Vilcabamba, engraved by Pierre de Jode. Few complete copies have survived.
Leclerc’s copy did not have the engraving. One of the great American chronicles.
SABIN 9870. LECLERC 1701. SALVA 3281. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 638/25.
$9500.
28. Calatayud, Pedro de: JUIZIO DE LOS SACERDOTES, DOCTRI-
NA PRACTICA, Y ANATOMIA DE SUS CONCIENCIAS, DISPUESTA EN SEIS PLATICAS.... Lima: Plazuela de San Christoval, por
Juan Joseph Gonzalez de Cossio, 1752. [46],279,[1]pp. Numerous errors in
pagination. Small quarto. Contemporary vellum, lettered on spine; recased,
with new endpapers. Lower corner of rear cover repaired. Minor toning to a
few leaves. Near fine.
First American edition of this work by the Spanish Jesuit, Calatayud, containing
theological advice for priests. The work was first published in separate editions in
Pamplona and Valencia in 1736. This Lima edition includes a preface by Pedro
Antonio, Archbishop of Lima, outlining the reasons for reprinting the text, and
reprints the original dedication and various approvals from the earlier editions. The
work consists of six discourses intended to guide priests in their ministerial works.
More a philosophical work than a practical guide, Calatayud explores the moral and
religious obligations which priests have to those they serve and to themselves. The
sixth discourse is addressed to bishops and prelates, and the final essay is addressed
to an “illustrious bishop,” Archbishop of Cartagena Thomas Joseph de Montes, to
whom the work is addressed.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1040. VARGAS UGARTE 1645. PALAU 39488.
$700.
29. Calatayud, Pedro de: JUIZIO DE LOS SACERDOTES, DOCTRI-
NA PRACTICA, Y ANATOMIA DE SUS CONCIENCIAS, DISPUESTA EN SEIS PLATICAS, QUE SUELE HAZER AL GREMIO
ECLESIASTICO EN SUS MISSIONES, Y UNA INSTRUCCION
QUE DÀ À UN ILUSTRISSIMO SEÑOR OBISPO.... Lima: Juan Joseph Gonzales de Cossio, 1752. [46],279,[1]pp. Quarto. Contemporary vellum,
contemporary hand-lettering on spine. Bottom corner of front cover restored,
rear cover replaced, and spine reinforced with early vellum. Inside front hinge
split, front cover and spine separated from text block, text block split. Light
stain along gutter of first six and last two pages. A few gatherings browned,
otherwise internally clean. Bottom edge of final nineteen leaves lacking, with
absolutely no loss of text. A near good copy.
First American edition of this work by the Spanish Jesuit, Calatayud, containing
theological advice for priests. The work was first published in separate editions in
Pamplona and Valencia in 1736. This Lima edition includes a preface by Pedro
Antonio, Archbishop of Lima, outlining the reasons for reprinting the text, and
reprints the original dedication and various approvals from the earlier editions. The
work consists of six discourses intended to guide priests in their ministerial works.
More a philosophical work than a practical guide, Calatayud explores the moral and
religious obligations which priests have to those they serve and to themselves. The
sixth discourse is addressed to bishops and prelates, and the final essay is addressed
to an “illustrious bishop,” Archbishop of Cartagena Thomas Joseph de Montes, to
whom the work is addressed.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1040. PALAU 39488. OCLC 13445808, 55238602.
$700.
30. Calatayud y Borda, Cypriano Geronimo de: ORACION FUNEBRE
QUE EN LAS SOLEMNES EXEQUIAS DE LA R.M. MARIA ANTONIA DE SAN JOSEPH LARREA, ARISPE, DE LOS REYES:
QUATRO VECES MINISTRA EN EL MONASTERIO DE TRINITARIAS DESCALZAS DE ESTA CIUDAD DE LIMA.... Lima: En
la Imprenta de los Huerfanos, 1783. [116],144pp. Small quarto. Contemporary
vellum, printed paper label. Ex-lib. ink stamp on titlepage, covered over with
white out. Some light scattered foxing. Very good.
Funerary work for Maria Antonio de San Josepha (1718-81), which includes a
labyrinth poem in the shape of a cross, printed in black, red, and green. Only six
copies on OCLC.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1542. VARGAS UGARTE 2321. PALAU 39594. OCLC 77630191, 166611610,
55238516.
$2250.
Can the Indians of Chile Be Enslaved?
31. Calderón, Melchor: TRATADO DE LA IMPORTANCIA Y UTILI-
DAD QUE AY EN DAR POR ESCLAVOS A LOS INDIOS REBELADOS DE CHILE. DISPUTASE EN EL, SI ES LICITO, O NO
EL DAR LOS POR ESCLAVOS: Y PONENSE RAZONES POR
AMBAS PARTES, Y SUS RESPUESTAS: DEXANDO LA DETERMINACION A LOS SEÑORES VISOREY, Y AUDIENCIA DE LA
CIUDAD DE LOS REYES. [Np, but likely Madrid. nd, but ca. 1601].
[2],24pp. Folio. Dbd. Dampstained and soiled, top and bottom edges worn.
Worm holes throughout, affecting a few words on each page. Contemporary
underlining and marginal lines throughout, contemporary handwritten folio
numbers on each recto. Still a good copy. In a half morocco and cloth box.
An extremely rare treatise which considers the question of whether rebellious Indians
in Chile should become slaves. Addressed to the Viceroy and Audiencia of Peru, the
work discusses whether enslavement of conquered Indians is just or not, reviewing
arguments on both sides of the question. Calderón approaches the problem in an
intriguing manner by providing separate justifications, each in its own individual
section of the text, for enslaving the Indians from the various points of view of the
King, the Kingdom, and the Church. In turn, the author then provides responses
to these various assertions, promoting the view that such slavery would be unjust.
The last pages of the text consist of final responses and commentary.
Calderón, the Canon of the Cathedral of Santiago, also served as Commissar
of the Holy Office and the Holy Cross, and the General Vicar of the Bishopric of
Santiago. He addresses the Tratado... to the Viceroy of Peru, as well as numerous
representatives of the royal government and the Catholic Church who have convened
to consider strategies for waging war against the Araucanian Indians of Southern
Chile. The campaign to conquer these Indians was one of the most difficult and
drawn-out conflicts between Europeans and American Indians in the colonial
period, lasting from the mid-16th to the mid-17th centuries. The appearance of
this treatise followed a particularly harsh setback for the Spanish in 1598 when “a
general insurrection forced the Spaniards to evacuate all the territory to the south
of the river Bio-Bio. The epilogue to this story is symbolic: Governor Martin
García de Loyola, husband of Princess Beatriz and former conqueror of Tupac
Amaru, was put to death, and his head was paraded on the tip of an Araucanian
pike” (Cambridge History of Latin America).
In looking toward an end to hostilities with the Indians, the author hopes that
the Viceroy and the Audiencia Real will be able to answer his query quickly. In
order to assist these officials in considering these issues, he presents the various
arguments in as orderly a fashion as possible. Arguments justifying slavery of the
native populations include the principle that military victors who have not been
compensated otherwise should receive the economic reward of possessing slaves.
This is particularly true, it is noted, given the violent transgressions that the Indians
have committed. It is also noted that as slaves, the Indians are able to be instructed
in the Christian faith. In contesting the justifications for enslaving the Indians, the
author notes the difficulty of differentiating those natives who were fighting the
Spanish and those who did not engage in conflict. Calderón adds that many Indians
have shown obedience to the crown and the church, have ridden themselves of their
old tribal leaders, and have suffered greatly during the conflict with the Spanish.
A fascinating work documenting both sides of the debate in the early 17th century
concerning the legitimacy of enslaving conquered native populations. Extremely
rare. OCLC records a single copy, at the National Library of Chile. Recognizing
both the rarity and significance of the text, Medina provides a transcription of the
entire work in his Biblioteca Hispano-Chilena.
MEDINA (BHC) 195. PALAU 39732. OCLC 55243154. Cambridge History of Latin America I,
pp.244-45 (Araucanian-Spanish conflict).
$22,500.
32. [Campbell, John]: AN ACCOUNT OF THE SPANISH SETTLEMENTS IN AMERICA. IN FOUR PARTS. Edinburgh: Printed by A.
Donaldson and J. Reid for the Author and A. Donaldson, 1762. xvi,512pp.
plus a folding frontispiece map of the Americas and [2]pp. of advertisements.
Contemporary calf, neatly rebacked, spine gilt extra. Rubbed at edges and
joints, bottom of front joint beginning to split. Light scattered foxing, occasional marginal dampstaining. Heraldic bookplate of the Llanover family;
bookplates of collectors Oscar Benjamin Cintas and Alberto Parreño on front
endpapers. The map is fine but for a small closed tear at one fold. About
very good.
Campbell’s extensive account of Spanish settlement in America was first published
in London in 1741 as A Concise History of the Spanish America. Howes calls the
1762 Edinburgh edition offered here the best edition because of revisions and addenda regarding the Seven Years’ War. Interestingly, the leaf of advertisements at
the rear is from London bookseller John Donaldson and dated 1774. His brother,
Alexander, printer and publisher of this edition, and he were business partners until
1773, after which he seems to have had the book bound with his advertisements
and carefully erased the “A.” for Alexander from the titlepage imprints. Scarce.
HOWES 93, “aa.” SABIN 102. SWANN PARREÑO SALE, 1978, lot 139 (this copy). $1500.
“...arguments for trade with independent Indians...”
33. Campillo y Cosio, Jose del: NUEVO SISTEMA DE GOBIERNO
ECONOMICO PARA LA AMERICA: CON LOS MALES Y DAÑOS QUE LA CAUSA EL QUE HOY TIENE, DE LOS QUE PARTICIPA COPIOSAMENTE ESPAÑA; Y REMEDIOS UNIVERSALES PARA QUE LA PRIMERA TENGA CONSIDERABLES
VENTAJAS, Y LA SEGUNDA MAYORES INTERESES. Madrid.
1789. 297pp. Contemporary calf, spine gilt, leather label. Lightly rubbed at
extremities. Bookplates of Luis Montt and Alberto Parreño on front pastedown
and fly leaf. Faint library blindstamp on titlepage. Minor scattered foxing.
Very good.
A new economic plan to revive the failing fortunes of the Spanish empire in America,
in which the author asserts that greater freedom needs to be given to Spain’s colonies
if they are to profit from them in the same way as Britain and France profit from
their respective colonies. Though it was published in 1789, it was written much
earlier and seems to have circulated widely in manuscript form. Campillo y Cosio
(1693-1743) was Spain’s Minister of Finance and War from 1741 to 1743; this work
would be highly influential on Spanish economic policy in the later part of the 18th
century. “Nowhere in Spanish thought were arguments for trade with independent
Indians articulated more clearly than in the well-known Nuevo Sistema... a master
plan to revive the economy of the empire...Part of it was apparently plagiarized and
published in 1779 as the second half of a book entitled the Proyecto Economico, by
the Spanish economist and ilustrado Bernardo Ward...Many Bourbon administrators referred explicitly to it, as did Viedma, when he noted in 1784 that the Indian
threat on the pampa would diminish if Pampas were treated with friendship and
trade as the French did ‘with similar savages, and as Mr. [Bernardo] Ward recommends with good reason in his Proyecto Economico” – Weber.
“Written in 1748, but never printed until 1789, probably on account of the
unpleasant truths it contains relating to the treatment of the unfortunate Indians”
– Sabin. An important piece of New World economics in Spanish America, as well
as an enlightened Spanish view on dealing with indigenous populations.
PALAU 41265. MEDINA (BHA) 5341. SABIN 10314. David Weber, Barbaros: Spaniards and Their
Savages in the Age of Enlightenment (Yale University Press, 2005), pp.181-82.
$2250.
Printed by the First and Second Printers in the New World
34. Carpenter, Edwin H.: A SIXTEENTH CENTURY MEXICAN
BROADSIDE. Los Angeles: The Plantin Press, 1965. 14pp., plus two
printed forms (completed in manuscript) in pocket. Folio. Half cloth and
paper boards. Fine.
Two 16th-century Mexican broadsheets from the collection of Dr. Emilio Valton,
in the extremely rare book with explanatory text by Edwin Carpenter. The first
example is a carter de poder (or power of attorney) form printed by the first printer
in the New World, Juan Pablos, about 1560, completed in manuscript on Dec. 3,
1565 (typically large stocks of these notarial forms were kept on hand, and often
used years later). Pablos established the first printing press in the New World in
Mexico City in 1539, and was the only printer to operate there until his death. In
1563 the second printer in the New World, Pedro Ocharte, took over the press and
operated it until 1592. He is represented by a carter de poder dated Nov. 5, 1587,
also printed in Mexico City.
Item 37.
Valton owned a total of thirty-nine pre-1600 broadsheets. Most of the Carpenter
books contained a single sheet, but this one, from the collection of the publisher,
has two. This represents virtually the only chance to own an example of the first
press in the New World. $6000.
35. Casasola, Gregorio: SOLEMNIDAD FESTIVA, APLAUSOS PU-
BLICOS, ACLAMACIONES OSTENTOSAS, QUE HIZO ESTA
NOBILISSIMA CIUDAD DE LOS REYES LIMA. A LA PUBLICACION DEL BREVE DE LA BEATIFICACION DEL BIENAVENTURADO S. FRANCISCO SOLANO.... Lima: Luis de Lyra,
1679. [5],23,[8] leaves. Small quarto. Contemporary limp vellum. Light soiling
to vellum, remnants of ties. Old ink stamp on titlepage, covered with whiteout. Some minor dampstaining and foxing to text. Very good.
A very interesting Lima festbuch celebrating the beatification of Saint Francisco
Solano, who was beatified by Pope Clement X in 1675. With the Oracion Evangelica,
by Franciscan priest Fernando Bravo, who was also active in Nueva Granada. Two
copies on OCLC, at Yale and Indiana University’s Lilly Library.
MEDINA (LIMA) 509. VARGAS UGARTE 686, 687. OCLC 51562070, 54142922.
$3800.
36. Castro, Francisco de: LA OCTAVA MARAVILLA, Y SIN SEGUN-
DO MILAGRO DE MEXICO, PERPETUADO EN LAS ROSAS
DE GUADELUPE.... Mexico: Miguel de Rivera Calderon, 1729. [28],90,
[2],44pp. plus errata slip and two plates. Titlepage printed in red and black.
Contemporary vellum, manuscript title on spine. New endpapers. Internally
clean and fresh. Very good plus.
Poems lauding the Virgin Mary, known in Mexico as the Virgin of Guadelupe,
accompanied by an engraved illustration of the Virgin. There is also a woodcut in
the preliminaries showing the infant Jesus with Mary and Joseph in the stable at
Bethlehem. Also issued with this work is a poem on the Passion of the Christ by
Juan Carnero titled, Metrica Passion de el Humanado Dios, with a separate titlepage.
This poem is also accompanied by an engraved illustration, showing the crucifixion.
MEDINA (MEXICO) 3052.
$1500.
The Most Magnificent Plate Book on Mayan Monuments
37. Catherwood, Frederick: VIEWS OF ANCIENT MONUMENTS
IN CENTRAL AMERICA, CHIAPAS AND YUCATAN. London: F.
Catherwood, 1844. [2],24pp., plus chromolithographed title by Owen Jones
printed in red, blue, and gold; lithographic map printed in red and black;
twenty-five tinted lithographic plates after Catherwood. Folio. Original half
straight-grain green morocco and green moiré cloth-covered boards, titled in
gilt “Catherwood’s Views / in Central America / Chiapas and Yucatan” at
center of upper cover, titled in gilt on spine. Small neat expert repairs to the
corners of the covers. In a green morocco-backed cloth box.
“In the whole range of literature on the Maya there has never appeared a more
magnificent work” – Von Hagen. This beautiful and rare plate book was printed
in an edition of 300 copies. It is seldom found in presentable condition, and it is
one of the first and primary visual records of the rediscovery of Mayan civilization.
Until the publication of the work of Alfred Maudslay at the turn of the century,
this was the greatest record of Mayan iconography.
Frederick Catherwood was a British architect and artist with a strong interest in
archaeology. These combined talents led him to accompany the American traveller
and explorer, John Lloyd Stephens, on two trips to the Mayan region of southern
Mexico in 1839 and 1841. These explorations resulted in Stephens’ two famous
works, Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan and Incidents of
Travel in Yucatan. These immensely popular works, foundation stones in Mayan
studies, were both illustrated by Catherwood and inspired him to undertake the
larger portfolio.
Views... was produced in London, although issued with both London and New
York titlepages. Catherwood recruited some of the most distinguished lithographers
in London to translate his originals onto stone: Andrew Picken, Henry Warren, William Parrott, John C. Bourne, Thomas Shotter Boys, and George Belton Moore. The
beautiful titlepage was executed by Owen Jones. Three hundred sets were produced,
most of them tinted, as in the present copy (there is a colored issue on card stock,
which is exceedingly rare). The views depict monuments and buildings at Copan,
Palenque, Uxmal, Las Monjas, Chichen Itza, Tulum, and several scattered sights.
The work of Stephens and Catherwood received great praise, but neither lived
to enjoy it long. Stephens died in 1852 of malaria contracted in Colombia, and
Catherwood went down on a steamship in the North Atlantic in 1854.
“Catherwood belongs to a species, the artist-archaeologist, which is all but extinct. Piranesi was the most celebrated specimen and Catherwood his not unworthy
successor” – Aldous Huxley. Not in Abbey.
PALAU 50290. SABIN 11520. TOOLEY 133. Von Hagen, Search for the Maya, pp.320-24. GROCE
$75,000.
& WALLACE, p.115. HILL 263.
Indulgences for Peru
38. [Catholic Church]: TERCERA PREDICACION DE LA DECIMA
QUARTA CONCESSION DE EL PAPA URBANA VIII. BULLA
DE PLENISSIMA INDULGENCIA, CONCEDIDA POR LA SANTIDAD DE URBANO OCTAVO, DE FELICE RECORDACION,
EN FAVOR, Y AYUDA DE LAS ANIMAS DE LOS FIELES DIFUNTOS...PARA TODAS LAS TIERRAS DEL PERÚ, TIERRA
FIRME, Y SUS PARTIDOS...[caption title]. [Madrid]. 1735. Broadside,
12¼ x 8½ inches. Old folds. Later pencil annotations and a few instances of
light soiling in margins. Text very clean, unaccomplished, with spaces left
blank. Very good.
A papal bull originally issued by Pope Urban VIII (1623-44), here printed as a
plenary indulgence for the souls of the deceased in Peru and Tierra Firme. The
text is illustrated with five simple woodcuts, including images of St. Peter and St.
Paul, the holy cross, the seal of the Comisario General De la Santa Cruzada, and
the facsimile signature of the Bishop. The spaces, such as those intended for the
name of the deceased and the date the indulgence was submitted, are here left
unaccomplished. A rare mid-18th-century Spanish ephemeral religious printing
with New World references. Not on OCLC. $750.
Artifacts from a Premier Mayan Collection
39. [Charnay, Désiré]: CATALOGUE DE LA COLLECTION AR-
CHEOLOGIQUE PROVENANT DES FOUILLES ET EXPLORATIONS DE M. DESIRE CHARNAY AU MEXIQUE ET DANS
L’AMERIQUE CENTRALE PENDANT LES ANNEES 1880, 81
ET 82. Paris. 1883. 14pp. Original green printed wrappers, stapled. Lightly
edgeworn. Internally clean and bright. Very good. In a cloth clamshell box.
An exhibition catalogue of Désiré Charnay’s archaeological collection held in 1883,
at the Trocadero in Paris. Featuring 102 antiquities from Charnay’s own collection,
the present pamphlet provides a list of items acquired during Charnay’s travels in
Mexico and Yucatan during the years 1880 to 1882. Some of the artifacts include
plans from discovered Toltec palaces, Aztec statues and funeral urns, and numerous
bas-reliefs found in small Yucatan villages. Each item is numbered and accompanied by a physical description, as well as brief historical explanations. Charnay is
best known for his massive photographic work, Cite et Ruines Americaines... (Paris,
1862-63), which established his place as an important early photographer of MesoAmerican ruins.
OCLC 19018872.
$2750.
In a Presentation Binding
40. Cherry, Cummings: CINCINNATI & SONORA MINING ASSO-
CIATION. GEOLOGICAL REPORT AND MAP OF THE SAN
JUAN DEL RIO RANCHE, IN SONORA, MEXICO. ALSO REPORT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE, STATISTICS OF SILVER
MINING, TRANSCRIPT OF TITLE, &c. Cincinnati: Wrightson &
Co., 1866. 86pp. plus two folding maps. Presentation binding of dark blue
morocco with red blue inlays, boards paneled and tooled in gilt, spine gilt, gilt
inner dentelles, a.e.g. Boards scuffed and bowed, front joint weak. Internally
very clean and very good.
A presentation copy, inscribed on the front free endpaper: “Senor M. Romero.
Minister of the Mexican Republic. Washington DC. With the compliments of the
Cincinnati & Sonora Land and Mining Association, Sept. 14, 1866.” Cherry was a
mining engineer who produced several reports on mineral deposits in various areas
of the United States, and who authored other works for the Cincinnati and Sonora
Mining Association (see Sabin, Howes, and the Streeter sale, all of whom list other
works, but not the present title). Cherry’s report is illustrative of a post-Civil War
boomlet of interest in the mineral wealth of the Sonora region of northern Mexico
(doubtless aided by a rumor that the United States might annex it). Cherry writes
glowingly of the potential mineral wealth of the area while downplaying the threat
from hostile Apaches, objections from the Mexican government, and a shortage
of labor. The geological report is quite thorough, and the maps show a portion of
“Cherry’s Traveling Military Map of Sonora” and the Ranche San Juan del Rio.
OCLC locates ten copies. Scarce.
OCLC 3502151.
$2750.
Manuscripts Relating to the Government of Chile
in the Mid-18th Century
41. [Chile]: [LARGE COLLECTION OF 18th-CENTURY MANU-
SCRIPT LEGAL DOCUMENTS RECORDING AN EXPANSIVE
RANGE OF ROYAL DECREES AND LEGAL ACTIONS IN THE
AUDIENCIA OF CHILE, COMPOSED IN SANTIAGO CIRCA
1722 – 1762]. Santiago. [various dates ca. 1722-1762]. Approximately 525
pages of Spanish manuscript records in a variety of hands, plus approximately fifteen blank pages. Folio. Dbd. Edges lightly worn, occasional moderate
dampstaining and soiling. 18th-century stamp tax stamps on several leaves,
including a few blanks. In very good condition. In a cloth clamshell case,
leather label.
A massive collection of manuscript legal documents generated in Santiago, Chile
between 1722 and 1762. The collection records a wide range of legal notices including royal decrees from Spain, affirmations that such decrees were received and
reviewed, and updates and references to earlier laws. The majority of the documents mention local figures such as high government officials, church leaders, and
other members of the local aristocracy; a few refer to members of other sectors of
the community, including mulattoes and “Indios infieles;” and a few others include
news of royal figures in Spain. The subjects detailed in these documents include
financial matters and accounts, land holdings, religious matters (including organizations, missionaries, and rituals), the naming of judges, criminal acts (including
homicides), judicial decisions, visits and actions performed by different fiscals,
and numerous other legal matters concerning everyday life in colonial Chile documented over the course of four decades in the mid-18th century. In addition to the
content of the texts, the formulaic elements and the physical characteristics of the
manuscripts are also notable as evidence of when and where the documents were
produced. These include the various hands in which the documents are written,
signatures of officials and scribes, standard formulas for the different types of legal
documents and summaries included at the end of particular texts (both comparable
to the forms found in printed versions of similar laws), Maltese crosses inscribed
at the beginning of certain royal documents, and stamp tax stamps with different
dates found on several leaves of paper.
A vast gathering of mid-18th-century Spanish legal manuscript documents
produced in Chile, with much potential for additional study and research.
$6500.
42. [Chile]: DON PHELIPE...POR QUANTO EN ATENCION À LAS
REPETIDAS INSTANCIAS QUE ME HA HECHO EL CONCEJO, JUSTICIA, Y REGIMIENTO DE LA CIUDAD DE SANTIAGO, CAPITAL DEL REYNO DE CHILE, SOBRE QUE LA
CONCEDIESSE EL CUÑO DE DOBLONES, À FIN DE CONSEGUIR POR ESTE MEDIO EL ALIVIO DE LAS RUÌNAS DE
EDIFICIOS, QUE PADECIÒ AQUEL REYNO, CON EL TERREMOTO DEL AÑO DE MIL SETECIENTOS Y TREINTA...[caption title]. [Madrid. 1744]. 6 leaves. Folio. Dbd. Contemporary manuscript
annotations on top of first page and in margins of text. Old folds. Moderate
dampstaining in top margins. A good copy.
A rare printed decree by Philip V, King of Spain, regarding the reconstruction of
the Casa de Moneda in Santiago following the earthquake that devastated that city
in 1730. Detailed orders concerning the construction and operation of the Casa de
Moneda and related matters regarding the processing of gold are also provided. It
is noted that the reconstruction of the Santiago mint will ensure that the gold will
not need to be sent to Lima for processing, as was the case after the earthquake.
Dated Oct. 1, 1743, the decree was printed in Madrid for distribution to officials in
the Council of the Indies and in Santiago. A printed note (dated Madrid, March
22, 1744) at the bottom of the text indicates that the text is a copy of the original
which remains with the Secretary of Peru.
A rare printed decree regarding the institution of the Casa de Moneda in
Santiago. Not in European Americana. OCLC records only a single copy, at the
Chilean National Library.
MEDINA (BHC) 365. OCLC 55278441.
$3250.
The Primary Account of the History of Peru
Before the Conquest
43. Cieza de León, Pedro de: LA CHRONICA DEL PERU, NUEVA-
MENTE ESCRITA, POR PEDRO DE CIEÇA DE LEON, VEZINO DE SEVILLA. Antwerp: Martin Nucio, 1554. [8],204 leaves, with
forty-one woodcuts in the text. Woodcut vignette on titlepage. 12mo. Contemporary limp vellum, lacking ties. Vellum attached to text block with ties
through foredges of pastedowns only. Slight age toning, occasional dampstaining, minor soiling on leaf 55. A very good copy. In a half morocco and
cloth box.
One of two 1554 Antwerp editions of Cieza de León’s highly regarded history of
Peru, and the earliest obtainable edition, following the first edition printed in Seville the previous year. The author, the foremost soldier-chronicler of the conquest,
served under Pedro de La Gasca in his campaign against Gonzalo Pizarro during
the civil war in Peru in the years following the conquest. “After the end of the civil
war, he travelled extensively throughout Peru in order to collect information on both
the conquest and the Inca world, with the clear intent of writing the first major
history of Peru. When he returned to Spain in 1550, he managed to publish only
the first part of his work...a thorough description of the land and people of Peru.
It includes both the cities founded by the Spaniards, such as Lima and Quito, and
the first documented descriptions of Inca cities and their customs. His wealth of
information is the result of personal observation, the scrutiny of reports and official
papers, and oral reports from Quechua Indians” – Delgado-Gomez.
Considered the earliest history of the entire viceroyalty of Peru, La Chronica... is
illustrated throughout with forty-one half-page woodcuts, several of which appear
multiple times. In addition to numerous images of building activities, possibly derived from earlier works on European architecture and monuments, the illustrations
include images of the devil, indigenous animals, the former Inca capital of Cuzco,
Lake Titicaca, and Potosí. “A European vision of America sometimes enhanced
by fantastic elements. In one of them, the devil, believed to be hard at work in the
New World, is shown as he keeps the inhabitants from leading a virtuous Christian
life, and in another, Lake Titicaca, located on the desolate Andean altiplano, looks
curiously like a canal in the city of Venice. The illustration of the Cerro de Potosí,
the fabled “silver mountain” of the Indies is an exception. Because it was based on
an original drawing done by the chronicler himself, it more accurately depicts the
real place” – Johnson.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 554/15. SABIN 13045. MEDINA (BHA) 161. FIELD 314 (1553 ed.).
JOHNSON, THE BOOK IN THE AMERICAS 32 (1553 ed). DELGADO-GOMEZ, SPANISH
HISTORICAL WRITING ABOUT THE NEW WORLD 26 (1553 ed).
$37,500.
Narrative of Travel to the California Gold Fields
44. Clarke, Asa B.: TRAVELS IN MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA....
Boston. 1852. 138pp. 12mo. Original brown publisher’s cloth, spine gilt. Lower
left corner of front board slightly faded. Some minor foxing. Else fine. In a
green half morocco and cloth slipcase and cloth chemise.
Asa Clarke left New York as a member of the Hampden Mining Company in late
January 1849. He travelled to the mines of California from Camargo, Mexico,
through Chihuahua and Sonora to the Gila River in Arizona (then the U.S.Mexican boundary), arriving in Los Angeles on July 9. Clarke’s narrative provides
the first printed description of that route. He spent that winter at Marysville and
Sacramento, and along the Yuba River. Streeter characterizes this narrative as “one
of the most interesting [overlands]....This route had not previously been described.”
HOWES C451, “b.” SABIN 13393. MINTZ 534. COWAN, p.128. GRAFF 746. STREETER
SALE 3169. WAGNER-CAMP 210. KURUTZ 138. WHEAT GOLD RUSH 41. HILL 302. JONES
1275.
$2000.
45. [Colombia]: [Finden, Edward Francis, attributed]: VIEW OF THE
PASS FROM HONDA TO BOGOTA. Colombia. [ca. 1820]. Pen-andink, within a ruled border, captioned below the image. Sheet size: 5½ x 7
inches. Very good.
This small but beautifully executed drawing shows the difficulty of crossing the
high Andean passes in the 19th century. Amid mountainous scenery, a rider on a
mule carefully picks his way up a steep trail, while a traveller with a staff follows.
A third traveller, on horseback, looks apprehensively at the sheer cliffs around him.
Possibly done by Edward Finden, an English artist and engraver who travelled in
the northern part of South America in 1819-21. The style of illustration closely
resembles his work. $1000.
River Travel in Columbia, 1832
46. [Colombia]: Dominguez, Jose Maria: CHAMPAN SUBIENDO EL
RIO MAGDALENE. [Colombia. ca. 1832 (paper watermarked J. Whatman
1831)]. Pen-and-ink and watercolor, on wove paper, titled in ink in the lower
margin. Sheet size: 11 x 18 inches. Very good.
A wonderful original watercolor of a champan on the Magdalene River in Columbia. A contemporary work describes the scene pictured here: “Champans, which
are employed in the conveyance of merchandize, are flat bottomed boats, about
the size of the fruit boats used on the Seine, covered with bamboos to preserve
the cargoes from rain: this roof serves also as a deck for the bogas, or boatmen, on
which they place themselves to push along the boat with their poles....The crew
of a champan consists of twenty-four bogas, at the rate of 20 dollars each, besides
their keep and the hire of the boat, which is about four dollars a day. These bogas
are represented as the very refuse of the population, a mixture of individuals of
every colour, who have retained nothing but the vices of their respective castes,
and who, when dissatisfied with their passenger, had been known to abandon him
on the shore, and take to the woods...” (Colombia. Comprising Its Geography, History
and Topography, Boston, 1833).
In this scene the champan is poled along by no less than eighteen punters, with
a coxswain steering in the rear. The shores are filled with dense jungle and exotic
animals. A charming image. $4500.
A Beautiful View of the Plaza in Bogota
47. [Colombia]: Castillo, Jose S. de: BOGOTÁ. LA PLAZA (THE MARKET-PLACE). London: Ackermann & Co. Jan. 1, 1839. Hand-finished
color aquatint. Six references in the lower margin. Sheet size: 16½ x 22½
inches. Very good. [See cover of this catalogue for illustration]
A very rare view of the Plaza de Bolivar in Bogota, showing the palace of the
bishop, the Cathedral, the separate bell tower, the city hall, and the Colegio de St.
Bartolome, all along one side of the main square of the town. In front of these
structures the life of the city bustles, with Indian peasants from the country, prosperous townsfolk, bullocks loaded with goods, and other urban scenes. The Andes
tower in the background. $8500.
Armchair Travel, Colombian Style
48. [Colombia]: CARQUERO DE LA MONTANA DE QUINDIO. [Colombia. ca. 1840s]. Pen-and-ink and watercolor, on wove paper, titled in the
lower margin. Sheet size: 10 x 7 1/8 inches. Very good.
A wonderful image of a silleros, or human porter, carrying a well-dressed man
across the Quindio pass in the Andes. Humboldt first described the practice of
silleros (also called Carquero or saddlemen) carrying colonial officials across this
treacherous pass on wicker chairs strapped to their backs. The practice continued
through much of the 19th century. $2500.
An Original Drawing by Torres Mendez?
49. [Colombia]: [Torres Mendez, Ramon]: A NATIVE DANCE, UNITED STATES OF COLOMBIA, SOUTH AMERICA. [Colombia. ca.
1850?]. Graphite, pen-and-ink and watercolor on wove paper, captioned in
pencil below the image. Sheet size: 11 x 15 inches. Chip in upper right corner
outside of image, else very good. Provenance: Rebecca L. Brown (inscription
dated 1876 on verso); Martha V. Edna (signature in pencil on verso).
An amusing depiction of the native culture of Colombia, in the style of, and possibly
by, the Bogota artist and lithographer Ramon Torres Mendez. Born in Bogota in
1809, Torres Mendez worked as a printer and illustrator his entire adult life. In
the late 1840s he undertook a series of lithographs depicting typical scenes, trades,
occupation, and pastimes of Bogota and the mountainous part of Columbia, published in Bogota as Costumbres Neo-Granadinas in 1851-52. This scene, showing
two dancers performing to the music of a small band in a crowded room, does not
appear in that series or in the later Paris edition of the plates. A charming genre
picture. $2500.
A Superb Original Watercolor of Travel in South America
50. [Colombia]: [Fane, Francis Augustus, Col.]: NIGHT BIVOUAC IN
NEW GRENADA. [New Grenada (i.e. Colombia). January/February 1850].
Pen-and-ink and watercolor on an octagonal sheet of wove paper. Sheet size:
12¾ x 18½ inches. Corners clipped, else very good. Provenance: Sotheby’s,
May 29, 1958, lot 377.
Wonderful mid-19th-century watercolor of a night scene in the jungle of New Grenada. Fane, from a prosperous Lincolnshire family, joined the Army and served in
the West Indies and in Canada in the late 1840s. In January 1850 he left Antigua
for a sojourn in New Grenada, arriving on January 19 of that year. Fane’s diary,
located in the National Archives, United Kingdom, records the circumstances surrounding this scene: on January 24 he “Started an expedition to the Sierra Nevada
de Santa Marta with two Indian guides,” and the following day “hired donkeys and
engaged an interpreter.” The present watercolor shows Fane at rest in a hammock,
whilst the interpreter and one of the Indians cut wood, and the other Indian tends
the fire. Fane reached the “Perpetual Snow” on February 13, arrived back in Santa
Martha on February 22 and arrived at Cartagena on February 29. He returned to
Antigua via Jamaica the second week in March of that year. In 1857, Fane would
raise a regiment to fight in the Indian Mutiny and would become a noted diarist
and watercolorist.
For the above quoted diary: National Archives, U.K., Records of the Fane Family, 1 Fane 6/8/1/3.
$4500.
Agreements with Conquistadors
51. [Conquest of New Spain]: CON RODRIGO DE BASTIDAS VEZI-
NO DE LA CIUDAD DE SANTO DOMINGO DE LA ISLA ESPAÑOLA, SE CAPITULO POR SU MAGESTAD DEL EMPERADOR NUESTERO SEÑOR, AÑO 1524. SOBRE LA POBLACION DE LA PROVINCIA Y PUERTO DE SANTA MARTA, Y
LAS MERCEDES QUE SE LE HIZO Y PROMETIO, SON LAS
SIGUENTES [caption title]. [Madrid. ca. 1600]. [4]pp. Folio. Later plain
wrappers. Minute dust soiling. Very good. In a half morocco and cloth box.
Four contracts between the sundry kings of Spain and certain conquistadors. “The
agreements are with Rodrigo de Bastidas, of Santo Domingo, for the colonization
of the Province and Port of Santa Marta (in 1524), with Don Gonzalo Ximinez de
Quesada (in 1569) for the discovery of the New Kingdom of Granada, with Captain
Don Diego Fernandez de Cerpa (in 1568), for the discovery and colonisation of the
province of La Guayana, Caura, and New Andaluzia and with Panfilo de Narvaez
(in 1526) for the discovery of Florida” – Bibliotheca Americana. The terms of the
agreements generally discuss rights granted by the Crown to the relevant explorer,
and stipulate what the explorer is required to provide the Crown in return. Gold
and other precious metals top the lists. When originally catalogued by Maggs, the
official signature at the end of the last agreement was attributed to Baltasar Lopez
de Castro; but, on the original cataloguing present with the text, a later hand has
suggested Antonio Fernandez de Castro.
Good evidence of the terms under which the conquistadors operated in the New
World, including Florida. Extremely rare. Not on OCLC, nor in Palau or Servies.
MAGGS BIBLIOTHECA AMERICANA 177 (this copy).
$5000.
First Constitution of Mexico
52. [Constitutions]: CONSTITUCION FEDERAL DE LOS ESTADOS
UNIDOS MEXICANOS, SANCIONADA POR EL CONGRESO
GENERAL CONSTITUYENTE, EL 4 DE OCTUBRE DE 1824.
Mexico. [1824]. [4],xviii,62,[3],iii pp. plus plate. 16mo. Contemporary marbled
wrappers. Wrappers lightly rubbed. Light dampstaining at edges of text block.
Minor foxing. Very good. In a folio-size half morocco clamshell box.
This is the first constitution of Mexico as a sovereign state, and the constitution
under which the colonization of Texas by Americans took place. “The first constitution for the Mexican Republic under which operated our present southwestern
states, from Texas to California” – Howes. This copy is not bound with the Acta
Constitutiva de la Federacion Mexicana, as is usual but which Howes does not include
in his pagination description of the Constitucion. Scarce.
HOWES E197. PALAU 59642. SABIN 48379. STREETER TEXAS 1086 (ref ). STREETER SALE
$6500.
211.
A Crucial Edition, with Many Important Materials
Published for the First Time
53. Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, Hernan: DE INSULIS NUPER INVEN-
TIS FERDINANDI CORTESII AD CAROLUM V...NARRATIONES, CUM ALIO QUODAM PETRI MARTYRIS AD CLEMENTEM VII...LIBELLO. HIS ACCESSERUNT EPISTOLAE DUAE
DE FELICISSIMO APUD INDOS EVANGELII INCREMENTO...
ITEM EPITOME DE INVENTIS NUPER INDIAE POPULIS
IDOLOLATRIS AD FIDEM CHRISTI...CONVERTENDIS, AUTORE R.P.F. NICOLAO HERBORN.... Cologne: ex officina Melchioris
Novesiani, impensis Arnoldi Birckman, September 1532. [82] leaves. Text in
Latin. Woodcut title portrait of Charles V within a woodcut border of escutcheons of Spanish provinces and towns, the portrait repeated within decorative
border-pieces on A1 and F1, large ornamental woodcut initials and borderpieces in text, woodcut printer’s device at end. Small folio, signed in 4s and
6s. Later limp vellum, manuscript ink title on spine. Numerous manuscript
marginal notes. Marginalia and ownership inscription on title shaved. Very
good. Provenance: Ex-libris Peregrini Vogelii (partial early ownership inscription on title); numerous early marginal notes, in Latin, in a single hand.
Second Latin edition of the second and third letters of Cortés to Emperor Charles
V, and the first to contain missionary reports from Yucatan and Mexico. Cortés
gave his personal account of the conquest of Mexico in a series of five letters, or
Cartas de Relación, which he addressed to Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor.
The famed first letter was lost, making the second letter the earliest account by
Cortés himself, describing the events in Mexico after his departure from Vera Cruz.
The third letter continues the narrative, describing Mexican events from October
1520 to May 1522.
The present work includes the second editions in Latin of the second and third
letters (translated by Petrus Savorgbabus), as well as Peter Martyr’s De Insulia (a
condensed version of the lost first Cortés letter); a letter from Mexico by Martin de
Valencia, dated June 12, 1531, which is the first printed report from the Yucatan;
a letter from Bishop Zumarraga giving an account of the Franciscan schools in
Mexico, their teachers, and the Indian converts; and a letter from Nicholaus Herborn
dated 1532. These last three sections appear here in this edition for the first time.
A rare edition, with only two other copies appearing in the auction records over
the last thirty-five years.
CHURCH 63. HARRISSE 168. JONES 21. SABIN 16949. VALLE 15. MEDINA I:86. PALAU
63192. JCB I:103-104.
$45,000.
Cortés’ Second Letter: The Conquest of Mexico
54. [Cortés, Hernando, and Peter Martyr]: PRAECLARA FERDINADI
CORTESII DE NOVA MARIS OCEANI HYSPANIA NARRATIO
.... [bound with:] DE REBUS, ET INSULIS NOVITER REPERTIS....
[Nuremberg: Fridericus Peypus], 1524. [4],49,12 leaves. Lacks map, supplied
in expert facsimile, and blank leaf H8. Folio. 18th-century three-quarter vellum and marbled boards, gilt leather label. Bookplate of John Carter Brown
on front pastedown, with deaccession stamp. Minor soiling in the text, else
very good.
The first Latin edition of Cortés’ second letter, after its original publication in
Seville in 1522. The work was translated by Petrus Savorgnanus. This copy bears
the portrait of Pope Clement VII on the verso of the fourth preliminary leaf, which
is not found with all copies.
Cortés’ second letter, dated Oct. 30, 1520, provides a vivid account of the
people he encountered and fought en route to Tenochtitlan, painting a picture of
an impressive empire centered around a great city. He relates his scrape with rival
Velazquez and gives a wonderful description of the buildings, institutions, and court
at Tenochtitlan. It is here that Cortés provides a definitive name for the country,
calling it “New Spain of the Ocean Sea.” This letter is also important for making
reference to Cortés’ “lost” first letter, supposedly composed at Vera Cruz on July
10, 1520. Whether that letter was actually lost or suppressed by the Council of
the Indies is unknown, but there is little doubt it once existed. The text is the first
major announcement to the world of the discovery of major civilizations in the New
World, and as such is a work of surpassing importance.
As usual, the second letter is here bound with Peter Martyr’s De Rebus, et Insulis
Noviter Repertis..., which provides an account of the recently discovered islands of
the West Indies and their inhabitants. It is often considered a substitute for the
lost first Cortés letter.
One of the most important early descriptions of Mexico and the first encounter
of the West with the Aztec civilization, and a work of bedrock importance to the
New World. No complete copy has appeared for sale since 1985.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 524/5. SABIN 16947. HARRISSE (BAV ) 125. SANZ 933-934.
MEDINA (BHA) 70. CHURCH 53. WINSOR 2:404. BURDEN 5. VALLE 11. JCB GERMAN
AMERICANA 524/4. STREETER SALE 190.
$40,000.
55. [Cuba]: [ARCHIVE OF 18th- AND 19th-CENTURY CUBAN
MANUSCRIPT DOCUMENTS ATTESTING TO THE LINEAGE
OF 19th-CENTURY CUBANS]. [Havana]. 1776-1853. One bound volume, approximately 225 leaves, plus [10]pp. loose, including one portrait measuring 16 x 10 inches. Folio. 19th-century calf, spine gilt, leather label. Binding worn, neatly rebacked with original spine laid down. Contents generally
clean, though with some areas of heavy ink burning, and some scattered light
foxing. Loose pages with some moderate to heavy soiling and foxing. Portrait
heavily chipped and torn. Overall, about very good to very good. In a cloth
clamshell case, leather label.
An extensive archive of documents consisting of attestations and appointments
confirming the “purity of blood” and lineage of Doña Maria del Carmen de Acosta
y Morejon and her deceased husband Don Antonio Maria de Gordon y Lopez
of Habana, Cuba. The archive includes several appointments bearing secretarial
signatures of Spanish Royals, as well as lengthy statements on paper stamped with
Spanish revenue stamps. One statement by Pedro Thadeo de Acosta details his
lineage and asserts: “lineage on both sides to be of old Christians, pure of all bad
Indian, Black, and mixed bloods....” Several of the documents concern military
service of various family members. Also included in the volume are a certified coat
of arms and family tree, both dated 1839, perhaps when the volume was compiled.
Accompanied by a color reproduction of an ancestor, Don Clemente Alonso, affixed
to linen canvas. The several pages of loose documents deal with Don Clemente
Alonso’s military career and service.
An interesting collection, worthy of extensive research. $2250.
56. Cueva Ponce de Leon, Alonso de la: CONCORDIA DE LA DIS-
CORDIA, SOBRE UN PUNTO GRAVE DE IMMUNIDAD ECCLESIASTICA. Lima: Imprenta de la Calle de Palacio, 1749. [26],276
(of 285)pp. [bound with:] Velasco y Reyna, Francisco de: DISCORDIA
DE LA CONCORDIA.... [Lima? 1750?]. [16],161pp. Small quarto. Later
vellum, remnants of pigskin ties. Boards worn along foredge. Trimmed closely
at top, occasionally affecting running title. Very minor scattered foxing; some
contemporary annotations to text. Very good.
A critique of ecclesiastical privilege by Alonso de la Cueva Ponce de Leon (16841754). This copy, which lacks the index, is bound with the rebuttal text by Francisco
de Velasco y Reyna. Palau dates the Discordia... as 1750, though the two copies on
OCLC are tentatively dated 1761 (at Harvard and the National Library of Chile).
Only four copies of the Concordia... on OCLC.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1010, 2590. PALAU 66184.
$2000.
57. Del Canto, Francisco: [Peru]: ARTE, Y VOCABULARIO EN LA
LENGUA GENERAL DEL PERU, LLAMADA QUICHUA, Y EN
LA LENGUA ESPANOLA. Los Reyes [i.e. Lima]: Por Francisco del Canto. 1614. [4],35,28-31 [i.e. 36-39], [1],[176] leaves. Last five leaves provided
in expert facsimile. 12mo. Contemporary limp vellum. Light to moderate
soiling to binding; corner of rear cover chipped. Titlepage mutilated around
the edges, affecting first portion of title text; mounted on newer leaf. Second
leaf clumsily repaired around the edges, not affecting text. Trimmed closely
at the top, affecting text in some places. Light soiling. Good.
An important Indian language work, from the first (and at the time only) press
in South America, printed only twenty-eight years after the beginning of printing
there, and twenty-six years before the Bay Psalm Book was published. Del Canto,
the owner and operator of the only press in South America at the time, was only the
second printer in Peru. He acquired his press directly from Antonio Ricardo, the
first printer in South America. This work begins with a grammar of the Quecha
language, followed by Quecha-Spanish and Spanish-Quecha dictionaries. The
book is in a handy duodecimo format for use in the field. Medina says this work
is “extraordinariamente raro,” and it is lacking from many of the great collections.
This work is generally credited to Del Canto, the author of the introduction,
but parts of it may be by Gonzalez Holguin, whose other works on Peruvian Indian
language were published in Lima in 1607 and 1608. Sabin attributes authorship,
however, to Ludovico Bertonio. Only eight copies on OCLC.
MEDINA (LIMA) 58. VARGAS UGARTE 79. PALAU 17729. SABIN 5020. JCB (3)II:101. OCLC
$22,000.
6783843, 251190642.
58. Delso, Agustin: RELACION DE LAS EXEQUIAS QUE A LA
MEMORIA DE N.SS.P. CLEMENTE XIV. CELEBRO LA PROVINCIA DE LOS SS. DOCE APÓSTOLES DE KA IRDEN DE S,
FRANCISCO EN LA IGLESIA DE SU CONVENTO.... Lima. 1776.
[57]pp. Lacks plate. [with:] Rodriguez Tena, Luis: ORACION FUNEBRE, QUE EN LAS EXEQUIAS DE N.SS.P. CLEMENTE XIV DE
FELIZ MEMORIS.... Lima. 1776. [12],68pp. Small quarto. Contemporary
vellum. Titlepage of first title trimmed at top, not affecting text. Some light
foxing and dampstaining. Else very good.
Funeral works for Pope Clement XIV (1705-74), formerly a Franciscan cardinal.
Clement XIV, among other deeds, knighted a young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and
ordered a suppression of the Jesuits, in an attempt to fend off the secularism of the
Enlightenment. These two works do not appear to have been issued together, though
Vargas Ugarte lists them together. Only a handful of copies of each on OCLC.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1407, 1416. VARGAS UGARTE 2140.
$1750.
Porfirio Díaz, Ulysses S. Grant, Jay Gould,
and the Mexican Southern Railroad
59. Díaz, Porfirio: [TWO LETTERS (ONE AUTOGRAPH), SIGNED,
TO ULYSSES S. GRANT; AND ONE LETTER SIGNED TO
GRANT’S SON, JESSE R. GRANT]. Mexico City, New Orleans &
Mexico City. Nov. 14, 1882; March 4, 1883; Oct. 16, 1894. [1]p. each, in
ink. In Spanish. The first two on single bifolium (the second with manuscript translation on conjugate); the last on Díaz’s personal stationery with
monogram and envelope. Minor soiling, the last with stains on blank verso
of conjugate leaf. Else very good. [with:] González, Manuel, President of
Mexico: [LETTER, SIGNED, FROM MANUEL GONZALEZ TO
ULYSSES S. GRANT (“SEÑOR GENERAL U.S. GRANT”)]. Mexico.
June 2, 1881. [1]p. on letterhead, “Correspondencia Particular del Presidente
de la Republica.” In Spanish. Quarto. Fine. In a linen portfolio. All within a
half morocco clamshell box.
Two letters are to President Ulysses S. Grant and one is to Grant’s son, Jesse. After Grant’s failure to win the Republican presidential nomination in 1880, “from
November, 1880, until his death on July 23, 1885, all his energy was devoted to
money-making” (Hardy). An important part of that phase of Grant’s career was his
involvement in the Mexican Southern Railroad Company. Incorporated in 1881,
with the aim of building a railway from Mexico City south through the state of
Oaxaca, its investors included such financiers as Jay Gould, Collis P. Huntington,
and Russell Sage; and its officers included the president of Mexico, Porfirio Diaz,
and Ulysses S. Grant, who was its president.
In the first letter, of November 14, 1882, Díaz introduces and recommends to
Grant “El señor Robert Symons, qui tiene varias empresas en este País.” Symons
was an English financier in Mexico to whom the Mexican government had granted
a concession for a railroad from Mexico to Leon in 1880.
In the second letter from New Orleans, Díaz thanks Grant for his letter of the
26th of the previous month, and acknowledges the attention and kindness shown
to him by Grant and Jay Gould, and asks Grant to “communicate his gratitude to
Mr. Gould, till I can do this personally and take him by the hand.”
Díaz was soon to do so. At a banquet in New York on April 5, 1883, a month
after Díaz’s arrival in New Orleans, “Gen. Grant entertained Porfirio Diaz and
his party at the Union league Club...by a dinner of uncommon elaborateness and
brilliancy. A large party of distinguished gentlemen were assembled upon Gen.
Grant’s invitation to greet the Mexican visitor” (New York Times, April 5, 1883).
Among the many dignitaries in attendance with Grant and Díaz were Jay Gould,
Mr. Collis P. Huntington, Gen. G.M. Dodge, Russell Sage, Matias Romero (governor of Oaxaca and an old friend of Grant), and numerous other dignitaries and
financiers with their eyes on Mexico.
Ultimately, the Mexican Southern Railway project fizzled, and no tracks were
ever laid. Nonetheless, these are singularly intriguing documents.
Accompanying the above described letters is a letter to Grant from Manuel
González. Born on a ranch in the state of Tamaulipas, González began his military
career in 1847 and became a general during the civil war of 1858-60. He became
president of Mexico in 1880 at the virtual dictation of his political friend, Porfirio
Díaz, who had preceded him as president, then succeeded González in 1885. While
Díaz was on “sabbatical,” his protégé, González, was also in contact with Grant, as
this rather obsequious second letter shows. González thanks Grant for his letter
of May 26, and continues: “I am truly gratified to be given an opportunity to offer
my services to one of the most famous sons of the United States and one of the
sincerest and most devoted friends of my country....I remain very grateful for your
offers to do whatever is possible to strengthen the ties of sympathy and friendship
which bind our countries....”
Osgood Hardy, “Ulysses S. Grant, President of the Mexican Southern Railroad” in The Pacific Historical
Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (May, 1955), pp.111-20.
$2750.
Designed for the Conquering Americans
60. Disturnell, J.: MAP OF THE VALLEY OF MEXICO, AND THE
SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS. New York. 1847. Folding pocket map,
handcolored, 17½ x 22 inches. In original 12mo. cloth cover. Cover lightly
rubbed at extremities. Minor soiling to map. A few small holes at corner
folds. Very good.
A map of the Valley of Mexico, with an inset showing the route between Vera Cruz,
Alvarado, and Puebla. Canals, roads, and bodies of water have been handcolored.
Size would seem to indicate that this pocket edition is a slightly larger variant edition of the map discussed by Phillips and Rumsey: “Phillips attributes this to J.G.
Bruff, although his name is not listed on the map. This is a detailed map of the
Valley of Mexico with some of its information and profile taken from the larger
Disturnell ‘Treaty Map’” – Rumsey. Not in Wheat. Scarce.
RUMSEY 4530 (ref ). PHILLIPS, MAPS, p.410 (ref ).
$3000.
Early Views of Important Mayan Sites
61. [Dupaix, Guillermo]: ANTIQUITIES OF MEXICO: COMPRIS-
ING FAC-SIMILES OF ANCIENT MEXICAN PAINTINGS AND
HIEROGLYPHICS...TOGETHER WITH THE MONUMENTS
OF NEW SPAIN...THE WHOLE ILLUSTRATED BY MANY
VALUABLE INEDITED MANUSCRIP TS BY AUGUSTINE
AGLIO...VOL. IV. London. 1830. [6],[2 blank leaves],[18]pp. plus 146
lithographic plates (some folding). Elephant folio. Modern half blue morocco
and cloth, raised bands. Some slight foxing in margins of a few plates. Overall
internally very good.
This important series of topographical views and illustrations of Mayan artifacts,
based on drawings made in 1805-7 by the French captain, Guillermo Dupaix, is
the fourth volume of Lord Kingsborough’s monumental eleven-volume Antiquities
of Mexico. It is by far the most desirable volume of the set, since it is the only one
with topographical views of the sites as they appeared at the beginning of the 19th
century. The handsome lithographs depict Palenque, Mitla, and other important
Mayan ruins. In addition, there are lithographs of ancient Mexican sculptures
from specimens in the British Museum. There are also plates depicting the Giro
del Mundo of Gemilli Careri, including an engraving of the Mexican calendar taken
from a painting once owned by Boturini. Other volumes of this work are sometimes
found with colored plates; however, the plates in the present volume are never found
colored (except for a few partially colored plans and the marvelous colored plate of
the Mexican calendar taken from Gemilli’s work mentioned above).
This is the first publication of Dupaix’s work, the most extensive series of views
of the Mayan ruins to have appeared in print up to that time. His work was republished in a different format in Paris in 1833-34. The Kingsborough publication is
the more lavish of the two versions, as well as having priority. A most important
series of Meso-American views.
SABIN 37800. RICH II:33.
$15,000.
62. Echave y Assu, Francisco de: LA ESTRELLA DE LIMA CONVER-
TIDA EN SOL SOBRE SUS TRES CORONAS EL B. TORIBIO
ALFONSO MOGROBEXO, SU SEGUNDO ARZOBISPO: CELEBRADO CON EPITALAMIOS SACROS, Y SOLEMNES CULTOS, POR SE ESPOSA LA SANTA IGLESIA METROPOLITANA DE LIMA.... Amberes [i.e. Antwerp]: Juan Baptista Verdussen, 1688.
[20],239,230-381,[2]pp. plus added engraved titlepage and one plate. Lacks
view of Lima. Folio. Contemporary limp vellum, spine lettered. Bookplate on
front pastedown. Front hinge detached from text block. A few light stains;
top corner of titlepage and page 1 torn and repaired. Generally very clean
internally. Very good.
A stately volume prepared to record the festivities surrounding the beatification
of Saint Toribio Alfonso de Mogrovejo (1538-1606), second Archbishop of Lima.
Mogrovejo was beatified in 1679 by Pope Innocent XI and later canonized by
Pope Benedict XIII, in 1729. This work provides a comprehensive description of
Lima and an ecclesiastical history of the diocese. This copy lacks the folding plan
of Lima; as Medina states, only one copy is known to include the plan. Only a
handful of copies on OCLC.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 688/84. SABIN 21765. PALAU 78066. MEDINA (BHA) 1813.
$9800.
63. Empson, Charles: NARRATIVES OF SOUTH AMERICA; ILLUSTRATING MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND SCENERY. London:
Printed by A.J. Valpy...and published for the author by William Edwards,
1836 [plates watermarked 1836]. Fifteen handcolored plates (fourteen being
watercolor over etched line after Empson, one engraved plate printed in sepia
and handcolored after Sowerby). Later three-quarter crimson crushed morocco
over marbled boards by Riviere & Son, marbled endpapers, t.e.g. Very good.
One of very few large-paper, deluxe copies with all the plates beautifully handcolored, of one of the rarest South American color plate books.
In 1824, Charles Empson, at the age of twenty-nine, left England for South
America, exploring the northern section of the continent in what is now Colombia.
Empson’s preface gives some indication of his motivations for travelling abroad: “The
glorious descriptions of Humboldt had induced many persons who had no other
motive beyond that of beholding Nature in all her majesty, to explore these regions
so gorgeously clothed in primaeval vegetation and so abundant in every production
interesting to mankind.” The text, divided into twelve “narratives,” discusses the
geography, natural history, and natives of the region. The plates, after drawings by
Empson himself, aptly portray the grandeur of the scenery he describes.
Three issues of this work seem to have been produced:
1) an octavo text (containing two natural history plates) and a separately issued
portfolio of fourteen plates (twelve being colored etchings, and two being colored
lithographs), with the plates trimmed and mounted to card, produced and sold
by Ackermann (e.g. Abbey 702);
2) a large-paper text bound with the fourteen plates, all uncolored (e.g. Tooley 210,
incorrectly referring to his as a later issue); and
3) a deluxe issue, as in the present copy, with a large-paper text with fifteen plates
entirely handcolored (fourteen being watercolor over etched line [the two lithographed plates from the portfolio issue being substituted for superior etched
plates], and a handcolored, color-printed engraving [one of the natural history
plates from the octavo text, but printed in colors on large paper and handcolored]).
This final issue is the rarest and was likely produced in only a handful of copies.
TOOLEY 210. ABBEY 702. SABIN 22548. BOBINS, THE EXOTIC AND THE BEAUTIFUL
808. (all refs)
$30,000.
64. Escoiquiz, Juan de: MEXICO CONQUISTADA. POEMA HEROYCO. Madrid. 1798. Three volumes. xxxii,342; 386; 345,[2]pp. plus frontis.
Contemporary Mexican calf, spines gilt, leather labels. Extremities rubbed,
boards lightly scuffed. Ownership markings on titlepage of each volume. Light
dampstaining to first few leaves of second and third volumes. Very minor scattered foxing, but generally bright and clean internally. Manuscript biographical
note about the author on fly leaf of first volume. A handsome set, very good.
A lengthy heroic poem on the conquest of Mexico, based almost entirely on Solis’
Historia de la Conquista De Mexico, first published in 1684. Typical of works of
this type, the poem praises and justifies the Spanish conquest of the barbaric native peoples.
PALAU 81282. MEDINA (BHA) 5838.
$950.
Outstanding Source for the Early History
of Colombia and Venezuela
65. Florez de Ocariz, Juan: LIBRO PRIMERO DE LAS GENEALOGIAS DEL NUEVO REYNO DE GRANADA.... [with:] LIBRO
SEGUNDO DE LAS GENEALOGIAS DEL NUEVO REYNO DE
GRANADA.... Madrid. 1674-1676. Two volumes. [43],492; [39],488pp.
Folio. Later vellum, manuscript title on spines. Some light wear and soiling.
Very good.
First edition of one of the best early sources for the history of Colombia and Venezuela. An encyclopedic work on northern South America in the colonial period,
the conquistadors, the first families to settle the region, and the high civil and religious officials of the various settlements are discussed, with their family histories
given in great detail. “This very rare work contains the most complete history of
the colonization of New Granada at the epoch of the conquest, and gives the most
exact details of the foundation of various colonies and personnel of the first colonists” – Sabin. Lacks the two genealogical tables called for by Palau, though these
are not listed by Medina. The two works were published separately, and the second
book is far more difficult to acquire and rarely found accompanying the first. Rare.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 674/57. JCB (3) III:271. LECLERC 1484. MEDINA (BHA) 1563.
PALAU 92686. SABIN 24835, 56624.
$18,500.
Early Lithographs of Mexico
66. Fossey, Mathieu de: VIAGE A MEJICO. Mexico City. 1844. 363pp. plus
six plates. Contemporary half calf and marbled boards, spine gilt; rebacked,
with original spine laid down. Boards lightly rubbed. Blindstamp on titlepage.
Light scattered foxing. Very good.
An interesting work on Mexico by a disillusioned Frenchman who wished to establish
a colony of fellow Frenchmen in Mexico. Fossey (1805-70) came to Mexico in 1831
with a group of his fellow countrymen to establish a colony at Coatzacoalcos on
the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. He was enthusiastic about settling Europeans in the
country, although the enterprise eventually failed due to the organizers’ unrealistic
promises and claims. Fossey spent much of his remaining life in Mexico, twentyfive years in all, returning to France only briefly. His books on Mexico are admired
and read to this day. Even though he had a typical European view that Mexico
needed European influence to succeed, he was in many ways atypical because he
became so involved in his adopted country and tried to understand it in more than
a casual, passing way. His book contains astute observations on Native Americans,
archaeology, mining, social differences, etc. He was certainly ahead of his time in
believing that no society could be fully understood without considering its natural
environment and the effect on its inhabitants. Not on OCLC. Rare.
This work is particularly interesting for the six lithographic plates of scenes in
Mexico, produced by the leading lithographer on Mexico City, Cumpildo. These
show several scenes in Mexico City, including a bullfight, and others around Fossey’s colony.
PALAU 93968. PORRUA V:6853. SABIN 25192. TOUISSANT, LA LITHOGRAPHA EN
MEXICO, p.xix. MATHES, MEXICO ON STONE, pp.23, 56.
$1500.
67. Francia, Ignacio de: ESCUELA DE CHRISTO, AULA DE DE-
SENGANOS, DONDE SE APRENDE LA CIENCIA DE LOS
SANTOS, QUE CONSISTE EN AMAR Y SERVIR DEVERAS A
DIOS.... Lima: Ymprenta nueva de la Calle de Palacio, 1721. [24],280,[1]pp.
with numerous errors in pagination. Small quarto. Later vellum, spine lettered.
Small tear in vellum near foot of spine. Moderate soiling to titlepage; paper
loss around edges repaired. A few other leaves similarly repaired or reinforced
around edges. Light to moderate soiling throughout. Good.
A religious work by Ignacio de Francia, professor at the University of San Marcos
in Lima. Francia was a native of Lima. In the last days of his life he wrote four
volumes of Reflecciones which made various points of theology and philosophy with
great strength and clarity.
MEDINA (LIMA) 787. VARGAS UGARTE 1251. OCLC 79378552.
$2500.
68. Freire y Lazo, Jose: SERMON DE LAS EXEQUIAS. DEL SIERVO
DE DIOS, EL M.R.P.M. FR. GREGORIO DE MENDOZA...EL
DIA 17 DE NOVIEMBRE. Lima: Imprenta, de la Calle de Amargura,
1770. [42],72pp. Small quarto. Later vellum. Some minor soiling and dampstaining. Very good.
Funeral sermon for Gregorio de Mendoza (1690-1769). Medina saw only an incomplete copy of this work. Only two copies on OCLC, at the John Carter Brown
Library and the National Library of Chile.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1308. VARGAS UGARTE 2022. OCLC 55270515.
$1750.
69. Fumière, Teófilo: TRES MESES EN EL CHACO REPÚBLICA
ARGENTINA. VISTAS TOMADAS POR TEÓFILO FUMIÈRE,
REPRODUCIDAS EN FOTO-TIPIA POR GUILLERMO KRAFT,
BUENOS AIRES [cover title]. [Buenos Aires: Guillermo Kraft, nd, but ca.
1890]. Twenty-six tinted photolithographic plates. Original publisher’s binding
of half red-dyed leather and boards with illustrated front cover. Front cover
soiled and lightly worn, particularly in margins. Light age-toning and soiling
in margins of plates. Very good.
An extremely rare album of twenty-six images by the Belgian photographer, Teófilo
Fumière, produced during a journey to the Chaco region of Argentina, an extensive
lowland plain in Central South America now divided among Paraguay, Bolivia, and
Argentina. Included are images of the Paraná River and the towns and settlements
of Bella Vista, Puerto Ocampo, Puerto San Vicente, and San Antonio de Obligado.
Several images show rancho residents and sugar plantation workers. In addition,
there are eight photographs of Indians of the region in transit to, and in residence
at, the mission of San Antonio de Obligado. Separate pictures were taken of the
Indian children, women, men, and tribal leaders. The album, produced by the
Buenos Aires publisher, Gillermo Kraft, consists entirely of tinted photolithographs,
without any supplemental text. The images, particularly those of the residents and
Indians, are extremely clear and detailed.
A fine album of photographs of the Chaco region from the late 19th century,
highlighting the state of lithographic publishing in Buenos Aires at that time.
Extremely rare, with no copies listed on OCLC. $2500.
In a Beautiful Mexican Binding, with Colored Plates
70. Galván, Mariano: CALENDARIO DE LAS SEÑORITAS MEGICANAS PARA EL AÑO 1838. Mexico: En la Libreria del Editor, [1837].
327pp. plus eleven plates (including three handcolored fashion plates and one
ex-libris plate printed in red). Half title. 12mo. Contemporary polished calf,
boards and spine elaborately gilt, a.e.g. Contemporary ownership inscription
on half title. Titlepage slightly soiled, light foxing to text, moderate foxing to
plates. A very good copy.
A finely produced almanac for young Mexican ladies for 1838, the first in a series
of similar annuals published by Mariano Galván between 1838 and 1843. In addition to recording the year’s calendar, including religious holidays and festivals, the
volume provided its readers with stories, poems, dramatic scenes, and a description
of the sanctuary of Guadalupe, with an extensive entry on flowers. The illustrations
include individual steel engraved plates for the year and the four seasons, and three
handsome handcolored plates of ladies in costume for the morning, for perambulating, and for gathering with other young women. All editions of the Calendario are
rare. OCLC records a single U.S. copy at the Newberry Library and two copies in
Mexico at El Colegio de Mexico and Universidad de Monterrey.
OCLC 48342484.
$1500.
An Early Navigational Manual,
Including Sailing Directions for the Americas
71. Garcia de Cespedes, Andres: REGIMIENTO DE NAVEGACION Q’
MANDO HASER EL REI NUESTRO SENOR POR ORDEN DE
SU CONSEJO REAL DE LAS INDIAS A ANDRES GARCIA DE
CESPEDES SU COSMOGRAFO MAIOR. Madrid: En casa de Juan
de la Cuesta, 1606. Two parts bound in one volume, paged continuously. 184
leaves. Lacks titlepage, preliminary leaf, and map. Small folio. Bound in full
vellum in antique style, leather label. Several leaves tanned, though generally
clean internally. Several 19th-century library stamps. Missing leaves and map
replaced in expert facsimile. Good.
First and only edition of this early 17th-century Spanish navigation manual. García
de Cespedes, who served as Royal Cosmographer to Felipe III and held the chair
of cosmographer at the navigators’ school in Seville, relied on some information on
navigation and mathematics attributed to Pedro Nuñez, but the work is substantially
his own. The work consists of separate sections, each with its own titlepage, devoted
to navigation and hydrography, and woodcut illustrations of diagrams and instruments are found throughout. The final chapter provides instructions for navigation
in the Americas, with sailing directions for the West Indies, Veracruz, and Havana,
as well as instructions from Spain to Rio de la Plata, the Straits of Magellan, and
the Pacific coast of South America. The text also includes documents relating to the
dispute between Spain and Portugal regarding the line of demarcation between those
countries’ territories in the New World as initially created by papal decree in 1493.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 606/50. SABIN 11718. MEDINA (BHA) 515. JCB (3)II:39. JCB
MARITIME HAND-LIST 68. PALAU 98619. WAGNER NORTHWEST COAST 244.
$9000.
A Classic Peruvian History
72. Garcilaso de la Vega, “El Inca”: HISTORIA GENERAL DEL PERV
TRATA EL DESCVBRIMIENTO DEL; Y COMO LO GANARON
LOS ESPAÑOLES. LAS GUERRAS CIUILES QUE HUUO ENTRE PIÇARROS, Y ALMAGROS, SOBRE LA PARTIJA DE
LA TIERRA. CASTIGO Y LEUANTAMIETO DE TIRANOS: Y
OTROS SUCESSOS PARTICULARES QUE EN LA HISTORIA
SE CONTIENEN. ESCRITA POR EL YNCA GARCILASSO DE
LA VEGA. [Cordova: Por la viuda de Andres Barrera, y à su costa, 1617].
Large woodcut vignette on title. Folio. Contemporary limp vellum. Some minor worming with occasional loss, title shaved with loss of imprint, a few other
leaves shaved with loss of catchwords. Else very good.
A fine, unsophisticated copy of El Inca’s history of Peru: a fundamental history of
early America, here in its second issue, differing from the first only in its variant
titlepage.
The second issue of the second part of Garcilaso de la Vega’s famous Historia
General... or “Royal Commentaries” which had been published first, a few months
earlier in Cordova, in 1616. This issue includes the same text block as the first,
with only a variant titlepage with a different and larger vignette of the Virgin, and
the words “y à su costa” added to the imprint. The first issue is virtually unobtainable and is known in only two copies (at the Bibliothèque Nationale and the John
Carter Brown Library). The text and title for the first issue were probably printed
in late 1616, indeed the errata leaf includes the date “12. de Novembre de 1616”
and the JCB copy contains both the 1616 and 1617 titlepages. For the present
second issue, the 1616 title was cancelled and a new reset titlepage dated 1617 was
added to the original printing of the text.
The two parts of Vega’s history are actually considered to be two separate but
complementary works, which were originally published separately. This second
“part” is largely concerned with the period between the Spanish conquest and the
civil war in the area. The critic, Menendez y Pelayo, called the Historia General...
“the most genuinely American book that has ever been written, and perhaps the
only one in which a reflection of the soul of the conquered races has survived.”
“Like the first part, the second is a commentary rather than a history, for...’El
Inca’ quotes largely from other writers...always carefully indicating the quotations
and naming the authors. But his memory was well stored with anecdotes that he
had heard when a boy; and with these he enlivens the narrative” – Winsor, p.569.
Garcilaso de la Vega, known as “El Inca,” was born in Peru and spent his formative
years there, living out his later life in Spain. His father was a Spanish conquistador
and a participant in the events that his son chronicles, while his mother was an
Inca princess born in Cuzco. “He was a gentleman of refinement and possessed
of much learning, speaking Spanish and Quichua from infancy. A descendant of
the proud race of the Incas, he was a most industrious and careful historian of the
evil fortunes of his race, as well as a chronicler of the victories of the conquerors”
– Maggs. Vega’s contemporary record of the early Spanish period in Peru is most
valuable, as it is based on eyewitness testimony and personal observation.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 617/55. FIELD 590 (note). LECLERC 614. MAGGS BIBLIOTHECA AMERICANA VI:413. OCLC 11494608. MEDINA (BHA) 658. PALAU 354789. SABIN
98755. WINSOR II, p.575.
$17,500.
History of Peru by the Spanish-Inca Historian
73. Garcilaso de la Vega, “El Inca”: THE ROYAL COMMENTARIES
OF PERU, IN TWO PARTS. London. 1688. [8],1019,[8]pp. plus frontispiece portrait and ten plates. Folio. Contemporary marbled boards, rebacked
in vellum at an early date. Some scattered darkening and dust soiling, else a
very nice copy, untrimmed.
Garcilaso de la Vega’s major work, the source from which all later writers on the
subject have drawn. It consists of two parts, the first describing the origins, religion,
laws, and many other details regarding the Incan empire and policies before the
invasion by the Spanish. The second part describes the conquest by the Spanish.
The engravings provide a vivid picture of the brutal life of the period in Peruvian
life and of the conquest. This is the first English language edition, translated by
Paul Rycaut, whose portrait appears as the frontispiece. Garcilaso de la Vega, “El
Inca,” a distinguished 16th-century mestizo Peruvian and a descendant of the
Spanish poet of the same name, was born in Peru and spent his formative years
there, living out his later life in Spain. Garcilaso’s contemporary record of the early
Spanish period in Peru is most valuable, as it is based on eyewitness testimony and
personal observation.
WING G217. SABIN 98760. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 688/101. PALAU 354801. $4000.
The De Soto Expedition
74. [Gentleman of Elvas]: COLLECÇAO DE OPUSCULOS REIM-
PRESSOS RELATIVOS A HISTORIA DAS NAVEGAÇOES,
VIAGENS, E CONQUISTAS DOS PORTUGUEZES. Lisbon. 1844.
[6],xii,139,[9]pp. Small quarto. Original pink printed wrappers bound into
modern mottled leatherette, spine gilt, leather label. Slight tanning to first
few leaves. Minor scattered foxing. Very good. Untrimmed.
The second Portuguese edition, after the legendary 1557 first account of the De
Soto expedition, Relaçam Verdadeira..., written by the Gentleman of Elvas and of
which only four copies are known. The identity of the Gentleman of Elvas has
remained a mystery. His firsthand narrative is the primary source for information
concerning the De Soto expedition of 1539-43, the first investigation by Europeans
of the southeast region of the United States. De Soto landed on the west coast of
Florida in 1539, marching north through Georgia and west to Mobile Bay. His
party reached the Mississippi River in 1541 and went then to Arkansas, going as
far west as Fort Smith. Returning east, De Soto died and was buried in the Mississippi. The survivors floated to the Gulf and made it to Mexico.
SABIN 14363, 24895 (ref ).
$1000.
75. Gonzalez Lagunas, Francisco: CARTA DE EDIFICACION DE LA
EXEMPLAR VIDA Y SANTA MUERTE DEL M. R. P. DOCTOR
MARTIN DE ANDRES PEREZ.... [Lima]: Impresa en la Calle de San
Jacinto, [1770]. [2],138pp. Small quarto. Modern tree calf, spine gilt, leather
label. Minor soiling to titlepage. Some light worming throughout, minutely
affecting portions of text; larger worm holes reinforced with clear tape. Light
soiling to last leaf, else generally clean internally. About very good.
A letter written on the exemplary and virtuous life of Martin de Andres Perez
(1698-1770), head of the Camillian order in Peru, a religious order whose primary
concern is the care of the ill and infirm. Only three copies on OCLC, at Yale and
Duke Universities, and the John Carter Brown Library.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1310. VARGAS UGARTE 2024. PALAU 105407. OCLC 23707046.
$1750.
76. [Great Britain-Spain Treaty]: CONVENTION BETWEEN HIS
BRITANNICK MAJESTY AND THE KING OF SPAIN. SIGNED
AT LONDON, THE 14th OF JULY, 1786. London: Printed by T. Harrison and S. Brooke, 1786. 15pp. printed in double-column format in parallel
English and French. Small quarto. Modern half calf and marbled boards.
Near fine.
The 1783 treaty between Spain and England had been concluded as part of the
general ending of the American War of Independence, and left a number of points
unresolved. This document settles issues relating to South America, Central America,
and the Caribbean. Specific points include a British pledge to evacuate the land of
the “Mosquito” Indians in Belize and other Spanish possessions, in return for the
right to gather fruits and wood, “without even excepting mahogany.” OCLC locates
five copies. A scarce treaty, with significant ramifications for colonial Latin America.
DAVENPORT 175. OCLC 12651227.
$1000.
77. Hans, Alberto: QUERETARO. MEMORIAS DE UN OFICIAL
DEL EMPERADOR MAXIMILIANO. Mexico. 1869. 240pp. Lithographic frontis. Half title. Contemporary half calf and marbled boards, spine
gilt. Boards rubbed, quite worn at edges and especially at corners. Internally
clean. Very good.
A scarce account of the final days and execution of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico,
by one of his close aides. Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph, Archduke of Austria, Prince
of Hungary and Bohemia (1832-67), was installed as Emperor of Mexico in 1864 by
Napoleon III and a group of Mexican conservatives. Mexican republicans refused
to recognize his government and, after the siege of Queretaro, Maximilian and his
military leaders were executed in 1867 by a firing squad. Alberto Hans was a second
lieutenant of the Imperial Mexican Artillery, whom Maximilian decorated with the
Cruz de Guadalupe during the siege of Queretaro and who was held prisoner for six
months after the fall of the city. Most of the text describes the siege of Queretaro,
and the final part details Maximilian’s capture, trial, and execution. Hans dedicated
his work to Maximilian’s widow, the Empress Carlotta. The text was translated
from Alberto Hans’ original French manuscript into Spanish by Lorenzo Elizaga.
PALAU 112187.
$675.
Biography of the First Catholic Saint of the Americas
78. Hansen, Leonhard: VITA MIRABILIS ET MORS PRETIOSA
VENERABILIS SORORIS ROSAE DES MARIA LIMENSIS....
Rome. 1664. [8],360,[4]pp. Lacks engraved titlepage. Small quarto. Contemporary limp vellum, tooled in gilt on covers, a.e.g. Light soiling to covers;
edges worn in places. Inscription on front pastedown. Light to moderate foxing and dampstaining; some minor worming, minutely affecting text. Good.
Biography of Saint Rose of Lima (1586-1617), the first Catholic saint of the
Americas. Rose, born Isabel Flores de Oliva, was born in Lima. She was canonized in 1671 by Pope Clement X, the first saint from the Western Hemisphere.
Seven copies on OCLC.
MEDINA (BHA) 1452. SABIN 30249. PALAU 112196. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 664/89.
OCLC 42453291, 54270098, 258128415.
$4500.
Important Narrative of the Attempt to Establish
an English Colony in South America at the Time of Jamestown
79. Harcourt, Robert: A RELATION OF A VOYAGE TO GUIANA.
DESCRIBING THE CLIMAT, SITUATION, FERTILITIE, PROVISIONS AND COMMODITIES OF THAT COUNTRY...TOGETHER WITH THE MANNERS, CUSTOMES, BEHAVIORS,
AND DISPOSITIONS OF THE PEOPLE London: Printed by John
Beale, for W. Welby, 1613. [16],71pp. Small quarto. Modern crushed red
morocco by Riviere, spine lettered in gilt, raised bands, a.e.g., gilt inner dentelles. Titlepage margins restored, affecting a few letters of text. Light, even
tanning. A handsome copy.
The Frank C. Deering copy, with his gilt morocco bookplate on the front pastedown,
of the rare first edition of the most extensive narrative of the British attempt to
establish a colony in South America. Harcourt made his voyage to Guiana in
1609 and stayed less than a year. While there he made contact with a local chief,
set about searching for gold, and established a colony at the mouth of the River
Wiapoco. When he returned to England, Harcourt began promoting his newly
acquired plantation in Guiana, and the text includes discussions of the growing
of sugar, cotton, tobacco, and indigo. Harcourt presents strong arguments for the
future of the British toehold on the Spanish Main, and contends that Guiana’s
riches rival those of New Spain and Peru. This first edition contains the text of
the Patent of Guiana granted to Harcourt, which is not printed in the second edition of 1626. “The tract did much to hasten the idea of English colonization in
America...” – Streeter. “Very rare” – Sabin. Only the former Boies Penrose copy
has appeared for sale in recent times.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 613/73. JCB (3)II:.95. SABIN 30296. STREETER SALE 34.
CHURCH 361. ADVENTURES IN AMERICANA 68. ARENTS 105. BELL H36. ESTC S103834.
STC 12754.
$30,000.
80. Henderson, Alexander: A GRAMMAR OF THE MOSKITO LANGUAGE...BELIZE, HONDURAS. New York: Printed by John Gray,
1846. iv,[5]-47pp. Original wrappers, front wrapper lacking. Bookplate of John
Lawson on title leaf verso. Mild foxing and soiling to titlepage. Else very good.
The first known published grammar of the indigenous Moskito (Mosquito) people
of present-day Belize, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The author, Alexander Henderson, was a Baptist missionary who arrived in Belize in 1834 and spent numerous
years learning the Moskito language and attempting to translate the Bible into it.
Henderson notes that the language had “been hitherto unwritten” and that the “author has, therefore, had the advantage of no prior attempts at its cultivation, never
having beheld one word in a grammatical form until he looked upon his own, and
very few words even in a written form at all” (iii). Scarce.
PILLING, PROOF-SHEETS 1724. SABIN 31303.
$850.
A Major Work on Indian Linguistics
81. Hervas, Lorenzo: CATALOGO DE LAS LENGUAS DE LAS NA-
CIONES CONOCIDAS, Y NUERACION, DIVISION, Y CLASES
DE ESTAS SEGUN LA DIVERSIDAD DE SUS IDIOMAS Y DIALECTOS. Madrid. 1800-1805. Six volumes. Complete, with six folding
tables. Quarto. Contemporary embossed green calf, tooled in gilt. Boards and
extremities rubbed. Light scattered foxing. Very good.
A lovely set of this important linguistic work by famous Jesuit philologist Lorenzo
Hervas (1735-1809). “The first volume of this very learned work...is devoted to the
aboriginal languages, and the people who spoke them” – Sabin. The first volume
covers the languages of the Americas, and the others cover Europe and Polynesia.
Included in the volume on the Americas are sections on the native languages of
Peru, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Nicaragua, California, Florida, Greenland, and the
Eastern United States, all classified with their various dialects. Two of the folding
tables present detailed information on the Guarani people, and on the missions of
Santa Cruz de la Sierra in modern Bolivia. The second volume covers languages
of Asia and the Pacific; volume three covers Europe; and volumes four, five, and
six discuss ancient European languages.
SABIN 31600. PALAU 114453.
$5000.
The First Major Work on Commerce and Economics
Published in the New World
82. Hevia y Bolaños, Juan de: LABYRINTHO DE COMERCIO TER-
RESTRE Y NAVAL. DONDE BREVE Y COMENDIOSAMENTE
SE TRATA DA LA MERCANCIA Y CONTRATACION DE TIERRA Y MAR.... Lima: Francisco del Canto, 1617. [16],799,[45]pp. Small
quarto. Later vellum with pigskin ties, manuscript title on spine, brand on
top edge. Modern bookplate on front pastedown. Internally clean. Near fine.
In a cardboard slipcase.
First edition of the “first American work with substantial portions devoted to law
of the sea and customs regulating sea-borne commerce” (JCB Maritime Books 459).
A general encyclopedia of legal knowledge concerning trade by land and sea, it was
drawn up for the use of merchants, agents, navigators, lawyers, and consuls. It was
reprinted nine times in Spain in the 17th century and fifteen more times in the
18th century. By the nature of its subject, it clearly was an important and heavily used reference, and consequently has become rare, especially in fine condition.
This is the first major work on commerce, banking, and trade published in the
New World, and stands among a mere handful of books to be first printed in the
Americas and then exported to Spain. At the time of publication there were only
three presses in the New World, in Mexico City, Puebla, and Lima. The book’s
printer, Francesco del Canto, was the successor to Peru’s first printer, Antonio Ricardo, who began printing in South America in 1585. This is the most extensive
work published in South America up to the time, and surpassed only by a few works
published in Mexico in all of the New World.
A very rare work, with only two copies traced at auction in at least 100 years.
Not in HAS, Salva, Kress, or Sabin. A lovely copy of an early Lima imprint and
an Americanum of surpassing importance.
MEDINA (LIMA) 73. PALAU 114526.
$90,000.
83. [Hispanic Society of America]: LIST OF PRINTED BOOKS IN
THE LIBRARY OF THE HISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA.
New York. 1910. Twenty volumes. Original red publisher’s cloth. Minor rubbing. Internally clean. Very good plus.
Reference work listing, alphabetically, the holdings of the Hispanic Society of
America. An impressive reference set. $875.
With Magnificent Aquatint Plates
84. Humboldt, Alexander von, and Aimé Bonpland: VUES DES COR-
DILLÈRES ET MONUMENS DES PEUPLES INDIGÈNES DE
L’AMÉRIQUE. Paris: [de l’Imprimerie de J.H. Stône] chez F. Schoell, 1810.
Two volumes bound in one. [10],350,[1]pp., including engraved dedication
leaf. Sixty-nine engraved plates on sixty-eight leaves (twenty-seven handcolored, printed in colors or printed in colors and finished by hand [one of these
double-page], four printed in sepia). Half title. Folio. Expertly bound to style
in half morocco, preserving original brown paper-covered boards, titled in gilt
on spine. Plates and text very fresh and clean. Near fine. Untrimmed.
This atlas is one of the most important publications resulting from the expedition
to America in 1799-1804 of the great German scientist and explorer, Alexander
von Humboldt, and the botanist, Aimé Bonpland. During their extensive trip, the
two gathered masses of material relating to all aspects of the New World, and their
work in the field and in publication set a new standard for scientific exploration and
reporting. Humboldt and Bonpland sought to investigate geography, natural history,
archaeology, and native customs. Their field explorations were supplemented by
extensive research in Europe. The series of publications began in 1805 and took
decades, the present volume being the first major work to appear.
Vue des Cordillères... is most notable for its remarkable aquatint plates of scenes
in South and Central America, particularly the magnificent double-page plate of the
great volcano of Chimborazo in the Andean highlands. Most of these were made
after Humboldt’s original sketches. His involvement in the publication was close,
especially in checking the coloring, which was done under his personal supervision
to ensure accuracy. These plates beautifully illustrate views, native costumes, and
antiquities.
The work is equally important as the first extensive treatment of surviving
pre-Columbian and immediately post-Columbian Indian codices. The first publication of any part of the famed Dresden Codex, the most extensive of surviving
pre-Columbian codices, is found herein, again with superb aquatint coloring. There
are also color reproductions of the Codex Mendoza and plates drawn from other
important codices. Humboldt’s treatment of them is a landmark in the rediscovery
of the pre-Columbian civilizations. “Every class of Mexican or Aztec, and Peruvian
Antiquities, receives in this work the clearest philosophical analysis” – Field. “Many
of the plates are beautifully colored; indeed, it is the most beautiful and generally
interesting of Humboldt’s works” – Sabin.
The present copy includes the last twenty plates; these are frequently lacking.
It does not include the sixteen-page introduction by Humboldt, dated 1813, which
seems to be an indication that the present copy is an early issue.
SABIN 33754. FIELD 739. HILL 839. LIPPERHEIDE 1630. PALAU 117026. PILLING, PROOF-
$60,000.
SHEETS 1871.
Not in European Americana
85. [Iudice, Nicolas]: SEÑOR. EL GENERAL DON NICOLAS IU-
DICE. DIZE: QUE AVIENDO DADO CUENTA A V. MAGESTAD
DE ALGUNOS EXCESSOS DEL GENERAL DON ANTONIO
DE OQUÉDO, QUE LO HA SIDO DE GALEONES EL AÑO DE
634. QUE EL DICHO TU DICE LO ERA DE LA ARMADA, Y
FLORA DE LA PROVINCIA DE TIERRA-FIRME...[caption title].
[Np. ca. 1635]. 8 leaves. Folio. Later plain wrappers. Minor dust soiling on
edges. Very good. In a half morocco and cloth box.
In the present memorial to King Philip IV, Don Nicolas Iudice, commander of
the Spanish fleet dispatched to Tierra Firma, criticizes the actions of Gen. Antonio de Oquéndo, the commander of the highly prized galleon fleet for 1634, for
acting against the orders of the Crown and for his own personal benefit. Iudice
lists Oquéndo’s numerous past and present misdeeds, promises to provide proof,
and challenges Oquéndo to do the same. Iudice describes events in Havana, San
Augustin, and elsewhere. Good evidence of administrative in-fighting in Spanish
America. Not in European Americana or any other reference we can discover.
$5500.
86. [ Johnson, Samuel]: THOUGHTS ON THE LATE TRANSACTIONS RESPECTING FALKLAND’S ISLANDS. London. 1771. [4],
75pp. Half title. Modern paper boards, printed paper label. Modern bookplate
on front pastedown. Quite clean internally. Very good plus. In a red half
morocco and cloth folder.
Second edition, published the same year as the first. Johnson’s thoughts on the
Falkland Crisis of 1770, which nearly resulted in war between England and Spain,
with both claiming the area in question.
ESTC N14397. GOLDSMITHS 10764.
$750.
Among the Most Important
South American Travel Narratives
87. Juan, Jorge: Ulloa, Antonio de: RELACION HISTORICA DEL
VIAGE A LA AMERICA MERIDIONAL HECHO DE ORDEN
DE S. MAG. PARA MEDIR ALGUNOS GRADOS DE MERIDIANO TERRESTRE, Y VENIR POR ELLOS EN CONOCIMIENTO
DE LA VERDADERA FIGURA, Y MAGNITUD DE LA TIERRA,
CON OTRAS VARIAS OBSERVACIONES ASTRONOMICAS,
Y PHYSICAS. [with:] OBSERVACIONES ASTRONOMICAS, Y
PHISICAS HECHAS DE ORDEN DE S. MAG. EN LOS REYNOS
DEL PERU. Madrid. 1748. Five volumes. Folio. Contemporary vellum with
remnants of vellum ties, lettered on spine; recased, with newer endpapers.
Minor scattered foxing and soiling, but generally bright and clean. Very good.
The first edition of each of these important works. “Ulloa’s voyage arose out of
the desire of the French Government to send certain members to the Academy of
Sciences to measure a degree in the equinoctial countries in Peru. This request was
not only accorded in the most courteous manner, but the King of Spain conceived
the idea of sharing the honor in a scheme devoted to the advancement of knowledge,
and sent two of the most scientific officers of the Spanish navy to accompany the
expedition. The party carried on a series of operations of unexampled difficulty,
and encountered hardships and sufferings which demanded the strength of the
strongest constitutions and the energy of minds stimulated by a love of science.
Much information was collected and published, which has been reproduced on
other works on South America” – Sabin. This work is the first full description of
the Spanish Indies since the 16th-century chronicles, containing significant information on geology, geography, archeology, ethnology, flora and fauna. It is also a
lively account of travel and adventure, with sharp observations on the elements and
mores of society in the New World. The numerous plates are mainly plans of Latin
American cities and elevations (Cartagena, Quito, Lima, Callao Bay, etc.). At the
end is an account of the Incas of Peru, preceded by a very large and finely engraved
plate depicting portraits of the various Incas, and of the King of Spain. Though the
four volumes of the Relacion Historica... do stand on their own, it is most desirable
to have a complete set, with the Observaciones.... Sets are often made up with a
second edition of the Observaciones, as the first edition of this work is far scarcer.
PALAU 125471, 125472. MEDINA (BHA) 3463, 3465. SABIN 36808, 36811.
$24,500.
88. Kirby, Rev. Wm. Walter, editor: THE SOUTH AMERICAN MISSIONARY MAGAZINE. NEW SERIES. – VOL. I. [London. 1867].
[4],180,8pp. including illustrations, plus frontispiece and two folding colored
maps. [bound with:] Hume, Rev. A.: SOUTH AMERICAN MISSION-
ARY SOCIETY. REPORT RESPECTING A RECENT MISSIONARY TOUR ON THE WEST COAST OF SOUTH AMERICA.
[Liverpool]. 1867. 41pp. [bound with:] Gregg, Rev. John: THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. A SERMON.... London. [1867]. [12]pp. Original
pictorial gilt cloth, spine gilt. Boards rubbed, worn at extremities. Larger
folding map worn and with small chips along edges. A bit of soiling and
foxing in the text, but generally clean internally and about very good overall.
A complete run – six bi-monthly issues – of the first volume of the “New Series” of
the South American Missionary Magazine. The text includes accounts of missionaries
in the field, describing both their work and the topography, scenery, culture, and
customs of South America. Most of the missions were located on the coasts, so
there is much on Peru, Chile, and the Falklands. The larger of the maps shows the
location of missionary stations along the west coast of South America – from New
Granada to Patagonia – and the other shows the relative positions of Patagonia,
the Falkland Islands, and Tierra del Fuego. The frontispiece shows a “Fuegian
Christian” and a Patagonian chief (of suitably large size), while other illustrations
in the text show scenes in Chile, the Falklands, and Peru. This new series followed
the periodicals, The Voice of Pity for South America and A Voice for South America (also
published by the South American Missionary Society), which ran from 1854 to 1866.
An eight-page supplement for 1867 prints an article on the Indians of the Amazon
and an obituary of a missionary in Peru. The Hume text, which was separately
published and for which no copies are located on OCLC, gives the details of an
1866 journey from the Isthmus southward along the west coast of South America,
with much information on towns and villages, as well as the German and Chinese
populations in the area. $750.
With an Extraordinary Map of the Isthmus of Darien,
and a Plan for a Canal at the time of the Nootka Controversy
89. La Bastide, Martin de: MEMOIRE SUR UN NOUVEAU PASSAGE
DE LA MER DU NORD A LA MER DU SUD. Paris: De l’Imprimerie
de Didot fils aine, 1791. [4],70pp. plus colored folding map, 20 x 22 inches.
With [4]pp. pamphlet bound in at rear (as is sometimes the case, though not
noted by Sabin), being a prospectus for the published edition of Fleurieu’s
account of Marchand’s circumnavigation and voyage to the Northwest Coast.
Modern half morocco and marbled boards, spine richly gilt. Small hole in
titlepage, repaired with tissue, a couple instances of very minor light foxing.
Manuscript correction to two lines on one page. Near fine, untrimmed.
A rare and exceptionally early plan for building a canal across the Isthmus of Darien,
thereby connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and containing a fabulous map
of the region. From the earliest attempts to find a northwest passage, the desire to
find a sea route across the Americas, thereby linking Europe with Asia, had been
a long-standing goal. This text is one of the earliest proposals for a water route
across Nicaragua, a route that was considered a viable option until the construction
of the Panama Canal in the early 20th century. Bastide explains in great detail
the feasibility and course of the route, and the great advantages that it would give
to France. It would aid trade with French colonies in the Pacific, and on the west
coast of the Americas, and with Asia. It would also help the French keep an eye
on British and Spanish activities in the Pacific Northwest, as those two nations had
just settled many of the controversial issues regarding Nootka Sound. The beautiful
large folding map (usually lacking) in this copy has striking contemporary color,
and shows Nicaragua between the ninth and thirteenth parallels, giving a clear
depiction of the proposed route across the river San Juan, into Lake Nicaragua,
and then across another small body of land and into the “Golfe de Papagayo.” The
map is a fine cartographic representation of the region, showing the river systems
and mountain ranges, as well as significant cities and volcanoes.
This title is not in Palau. A most interesting document, both as an example
of a very early scheme to build a trans-isthmian canal, and as a French strategy to
secure geopolitical advantage in the Americas, vis à vis Great Britain and Spain.
SABIN 38408. OCLC 17296716, 55276757.
$15,000.
A Caribbean Dictionary
90. [La Salle de L’Etang, Simon Philibert de]: DICTIONNAIRE GAL-
IBI, PRESENTE SOUS DEUX FORMES; I. COMMENCANT
PAR LE MOT FRANCOIS; II. PAR LE MOT GALIBI. PRECEDE
D’UN ESSAI DE GRAMMAIRE. Paris. 1763. [2],xvi,24,126,[2]pp. Antique half calf and marbled boards. Contemporary inscription on titlepage.
Very minor toning and foxing; some slight worming toward the back of the
volume, slightly affecting a small portion of text. Very good.
Galibi, also known as Kali’na or Caribe, is an indigenous Caribbean language spoken in Guiana, Venezuela, and Suriname. “Compiled chiefly from the manuscripts
of Jesuit Pierre Pelleprat, a missionary in Guiana, this dictionary is variously attributed to Simon Philibert de la Salle de L’Etang and M. de la Sauvage. Earlier
published Galibi vocabularies by Antoine Biet (1664) and Paul Boyer (1654) were
also incorporated. It was issued as part of the Chevalier de Préfontaine’s Maison
Rustique, a guide for successful emigration to Guiana, and was also published as a
separate work. The author expressed his confidence that the dictionary would be
one of the ‘principal sources of success’ for the colony” – Slive.
PILLING, PROOF-SHEETS 3491. SABIN 77219. Dan Slive, “A New World of Words: Amerindian
Languages in the Colonial World” (1997 [accessed online]).
$2750.
Rare Peruvian Legal Resolution
91. Ladron de Guevara, Diego: RESOLUCION JURIDICA QUE EL
EXCMO. SENOR DON DIEGO LADRON DE GUEVARA, DEL
CONSEJO DE SU MAGESTAD.... Lima: Joseph de Contreras, 1712.
[16],51 leaves. Folio. Later vellum, lettered on spine. Ownership ink stamp
on titlepage. Light foxing and tanning. About very good.
Legal resolution handed down by Diego Ladron de Guevara (1641-1718) during
his tenure as Viceroy of Peru. From the Contreras press, which was founded by
Geronimo de Contreras in 1621. With his son and grandson following in the
business, the Contreras press was the most active printing press in early colonial
Peru. Only two copies on OCLC, at the National Library of Chile and the John
Carter Brown Library.
MEDINA, LIMA 741. VARGAS UGARTE 1179. PALAU 192548 (ref ). OCLC 55263799,
$1600.
83669365.
With an Important Series of Maps
92. Laet, Joannes de: NOVUS ORBIS SEU DESCRIPTIONIS INDIAE
OCCIDENTALIS LIBRI XVIII.... Leiden: Elzevier, 1633. [32],690,[18]
pp. plus fourteen double-page maps by Hessel Gerritsz. Sixty-eight woodcuts
in text. Half title. Engraved title with elaborate emblematic and architectonic
border. Folio. Contemporary calf, covers with double-fillet border in blind,
spine in seven compartments with raised bands, the bands flanked by pairs
of fillets in blind, painted figure “4” carefully painted in an attractive early
calligraphic hand in white paint in the uppermost compartment, red-stained
edges, expert restoration to head and foot of spine. In a modern cloth chemise,
and red half morocco and cloth slipcase, lettered in gilt on the spine.
An exceptional copy of the first Latin edition of “arguably the finest description of
the Americas published in the seventeenth century” (Burden). The maps include
the first to use the names Manhattan, New Amsterdam (for New York), and Massachusetts, and “one of the foundation maps of Canada” (Burden).
This work is one of the most important 17th-century New World histories. It
is a cornucopia of early knowledge of the Americas and was compiled by de Laet,
a director of the newly formed Dutch West India Company, with access to all the
latest geographic knowledge. Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, writing in
the 18th century, noted that the work as a whole “is full of the most excellent and
curious details of the natural history, and the character, manners, and customs of
the American aborigines, derived from the reports of the European mission establishments in America.” The present first edition in Latin was preceded by two
editions in Dutch (the first of which was published in 1625). De Laet continued to
add to and improve the work throughout his lifetime: the present edition contains
fourteen maps as opposed to the ten in the 1625 edition, and the text has been
considerably expanded.
This copy is unusual in two respects: firstly, its outstanding condition; and
secondly, for the early, certainly 17th-century, annotations by an English-speaking
owner who appears to have had some contact with the Americas, or at least with
the products of the region. The front free endpaper includes an accomplished small
ink drawing of a plant labeled “Cassavi” with a two-line note beside it: “Mammosaporta / a Jamaica fruite.” The second blank includes a reference to an important
scientific work by Mario Bettino first published in 1645, Marii Bettini Apiarium
Mathematicum. The index of the subjects of the woodcuts on the page preceding
the first page of the main text includes two references which correctly identify “a
Kinge Crab. novis Anglis” and a pineapple as a “Queene Pine.”
The maps are by Hessel Gerritsz and are some of the very best to appear up
to that time. Gerritsz had trained under Willem Blaeu, but had been chosen in
preference to his old master when the appointment of cartographer to the Dutch
West India Company was made. The charming in-text illustrations are chiefly of
biological or botanical specimens and are generally surprisingly accurate for their
time, and each of the eighteen constituent books is turned over to the consideration
of a different region of the New World. The quality of the maps can be gauged
from the fact that they served as a prototype for the mapping of America, with a
number of them being reused in various later 17th-century atlases.
The maps are titled as follow:
1) “Americae sive Indiae occidentalis tabula generalis” [Burden 229: “The best west
coast delineation to date”]
2) “Maiores minoresque insulae. Hispaniola, Cuba, Lucaiae et Caribes”
3) “Nova Francia et regiones adiacentes” [Burden 230: “One of the foundation maps
of Canada”]
4) “Nova Anglia, Novum Belgium et Virginia” [Burden 231: “The first (map) to use
the names Manhattan and N. Amsterdam. It is also the earliest to use...Massachusets (sic).” Cumming 35. Schwartz & Ehrenberg, p.105]
5) “Florida. et regiones vicinae” [Burden 232: “Its influence was quite considerable.”
Cumming 34]
6) “Nova Hispania, Nova Gallicia, Guatamala” [Burden 215: “The delineation of the
coastlines here was the most accurate to date”]
7) “Tierra Firma item Nuevo Reyno de Granada atque Popayan”
8) “Peru”
9) “Chili”
10) “Provinciae sitae ad fretum Magellanis itemque fretum Le Maire”
11) “Paraguay, o prov. de rio de la Plata: cum adiacentibus Provinciis, quas vocant
Tucuman, et Sta. Cruz de la Sierra”
12) “Provinciua de Brasil cum adiacentibus provinciis”
13) “Guaiania sive provinciae intra rio de las Amazonas atque rio de Yviapari sive
Orinoque”
14) “Venezuela, atque occidentalis pars Novae Andalusiae”
BORBA DE MORAES, p.451. SABIN 38557. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 633/65. STREETER
SALE 37. STREIT II:1619. JCB (3)II:246. TIELE 628. BELL L33. VAIL 84. RODRIGUES 1352.
ASHER 3. WILLEMS 382. ALDEN II:337. BRUNET III:741.
$30,000.
The Types of Cuba in Local Engravings
93. [Landaluze, Victor Patricio de (illustrator); José María de Cárdenas y
Rodriguez; et al]: LOS CUBANOS PINTADOS POR SI MISMOS.
COLECCION DE TIPOS CUBANOS. EDICION DE LUJO ILLUSTRADA POR LANDALUZE CON GRABADOS DE D. JOSE
ROBLES. TOMO I. Havana: Imprenta y papelería de Barcina, 1852. 332,
[2]pp. plus lithographic frontispiece, twenty engraved plates, and numerous
in-text woodcuts. In Spanish. Modern half morocco and marbled boards. Scattered foxing; occasional contemporary ink and pencil graffiti and notes on
plates and text leaves. Overall very good.
One of the most important works of costumbrismo in Latin America, and the
first collection of its kind in Cuba, with contributions from several notable Cuban
writers, and illustrated by Victor Patricio de Landaluze. In the early 1800s a large
number of authors and artists in Spain participated in the costumbrismo movement, an important precursor to later 19th-century realism that generally involved
written or pictorial sketches of a particular country’s or region’s social “types,”
customs, and manners. By 1830 the movement had spread to Cuba, among both
native authors and Spanish artists traveling abroad. In the latter category was
Victor Patricio de Landaluze (1828-89), the illustrator of the present volume, who
eventually settled in Cuba and founded the satirical newspaper, Don Junípero. Los
Cubanos Pintados... features twenty of Landaluze’s illustrations of Cuban types (“La
coqueta,” “El tabaquero,” “El litigante,” etc.), engraved on plates by Jose Robles,
and includes numerous in-text woodcut illustrations by Robles. The chalk-style
lithographic frontispiece view, presumably by Landaluze, depicts a crowd viewing
“Tipos Cubanos” in a peepshow box at an outdoor gathering.
A total of thirty-eight types are described in the volume, often in a combination
of prose, dialogue, and verse, by a variety of Cuban costumbre writers, most notably
José Victoriano Betancourt, Manuel Costales, Manuel Zequeira, and José María
de Cárdenas y Rodriguez. In her “Survey of Cuban Costumbrismo,” Roberta Day
Corbitt discusses Cárdenas at length, noting the “humorous irony of Cervantes” in
his costumbre satire. Corbitt also cites Cuban biographer Francisco Calcagno, who
states that between Cárdenas and writer Anselmo Suárez, “the two have made the
most complete and finished picture of the physical and moral condition of a country
which was ever traced by the pen of any writer” (Corbitt, p.43). A significant and
surprisingly rare volume, with no copies listed on OCLC.
Dawn Ades, Art in Latin America: The Modern Era 1820-1980 (New Haven: Yale University Press,
1989), pp.85, 348. Roberta Day Corbitt, “A Survey of Cuban Costumbrismo” in Hispania, Vol. 33, No. 1
(February 1950), pp.41-45.
$13,500.
94. Las Casas, Bartolome de: AN ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST VOY-
AGES AND DISCOVERIES MADE BY THE SPANIARDS IN
AMERICA. CONTAINING THE MOST EXACT RELATION
HITHERTO PUBLISH’D, OF THE UNPARALLEL’D CRUELTIES ON THE INDIANS, IN THE DESTRUCTION OF ABOVE
FORTY MILLIONS OF PEOPLE. WITH THE PROPOSITIONS
OFFER’D TO THE KING OF SPAIN, TO PREVENT THE FURTHER RUIN OF THE WEST-INDIES. London. 1699. [8],248,40pp.
plus two plates (only the right half of each plate is present; the left half of
each is lacking). 19th-century three-quarter morocco and marbled boards,
spine gilt. Rubbed at extremities. Front hinge tender. Moderate foxing. About
good.
Las Casas, the first great historian and humanist of the New World, arrived in
Cuba in 1502 and spent most of his time in the Caribbean and Mexico until his
return to Spain in 1547. An early critic of Spanish policy, he nonetheless rose to
be Bishop of Chiapas. After his return to Spain, he launched a series of attacks
on Spanish Indian policy. His tracts, first published in 1551-52 and printed in the
present volume in an English translation, denounce Spanish cruelty to Indians in
the West Indies and Mexico.
This is the fourth edition of Las Casas to appear in English (the first was in
1583), but it is, in fact, a separate, new translation, and according to Colin Steele,
“an improvement over previous translations.” As with earlier English versions, it
was issued during a period of war with Spain and served a function as anti-Spanish
propaganda. Unlike previous issues, it contains, at the end, the essay, “The Art of
Travelling to Advantage,” which instructs would-be travellers on how to observe and
report their travels. Sabin states that only “some copies have two folded plates” and
that most copies contain three. Thomas Field’s copy contained only two, as does
our copy. The illustrations are after De Bry and graphically illustrate the atrocities
committed by the Spanish against the Indians.
ESTC R21602. SABIN 11289. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 699/32. WING C797. CHURCH
780. Colin Steele, ENGLISH INTERPRETERS OF THE IBERIAN NEW WORLD (Oxford, 1975).
$2500.
FIELD 881.
Las Casas Records Spanish Cruelty to Indians
95. Las Casas, Bartolomé de: HISTOIRE ADMIRABLE DES HORRI-
BLES INSOLENCES, CRUAUTEZ, & TYRANNIES EXERCEES
PAR LES ESPAGNOLS ES INDES OCCIDENTALES...FIDELEMENT TRADUITE PAR JAQUES DE MIGGRODE. [Geneva: Gabriel Cartier], 1582. [16],222pp. 12mo. 18th-century calf, spine and board
edges finely gilt, rebacked with original backstrip preserved. Binding slightly
worn. Occasional minor foxing, light age toning. A very good copy.
Las Casas, the first great historian of the New World, arrived in Cuba in 1502 and
spent most of the ensuing years in the Caribbean and Mexico until his return to
Spain in 1547. An early critic of Spanish policy, he nonetheless rose to be Bishop of
Chiapas. He witnessed firsthand the appalling destruction of the American Indian
population at the hands of the Spanish, something he continually fought against
as a priest. After his return to Spain and throughout his old age, he launched a
series of attacks on Spanish policy towards American Indians. The first and most
influential of these tracts is Brevissima Relacion de la Destruycion de las Indias, which
describes the numerous wrongs inflicted upon the Indians, mainly in the Antilles.
Written in 1539, it was first published in Seville in 1552, and editions in French,
English, and German appeared before 1600. The present work is one of two French
editions printed in 1582, following the initial 1579 Antwerp publication of this
French translation by Jacques Miggrode. As with many later editions published
outside Spain, this printing helped promote Protestant attacks on the Spanish crown,
perpetuating the “Black Legend” of Spanish destruction of the Indians.
A rare French translation of Las Casas’ most famous work on the Indies. European Americana records five U.S. locations plus the Bibliothèque Nationale.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 582/23. SABIN 11268. MEDINA (BHA) 1085n (Vol. II, p.471).
PALAU 46961n. JCB (3)I:291.
$11,000.
“The most important documentary collection
for colonial Spanish America”
96. [Latin America]: COLECCION DE DOCUMENTOS INEDITOS
RELATIVOS AL DESCUBRIMIENTO, CONQUISTA Y ORGANIZACION DE LAS ANTIGUAS POSESIONES ESPAÑOLAS
EN AMÉRICA Y OCEANÍA. Madrid. 1864-1884, 1966. Forty-two volumes total. Vol. 38 lacking fascicles 3, 4, 5, 6. Many original wrappers bound
in. Volumes 1-10 in early quarter cloth, 11-42 in modern cloth. Volumes 1-10:
Abrasion/discoloration to spines, otherwise minor wear; moderate foxing, and
some early annotations. Volumes 11-42: Cloth bright; mostly clean internally,
last two pages of last volume supplied in facsimile.
A mixed set in mixed bindings: all volumes except 11 are first editions, the exception
being a 1966 reprint. Woodrow Borah writing in Latin America: “A guide to the
historical literature (a.k.a., ‘the Griffin guide’) declares, ‘This is the most important
documentary collection for colonial Spanish America, an invaluable source, especially for materials pertaining to the sixteenth century.’ The data on AmerIndians,
customs, early contact, etc., is outstanding.”
GRIFFIN 2063. PALAU 56442.
$6750.
97. Leon, Antonio de: CONSTITUCIONES SYNODALES, DEL
OBISPADO DE AREQUIPA. Lima: Joseph de Contreras, 1688. [2],103,
[15] leaves. Titlepage in facsimile. Folio. Later limp vellum, remnants of pigskin ties. Some light soiling, but generally clean internally. Good.
A work on ecclesiastical law by the Archdioceses of Arequipa. From the press
founded by Geronimo de Contreras in 1621, with his son and grandson following
in the business. The Contreras press was the most active printing press in early
colonial Peru. OCLC locates only six copies.
VARGAS UGARTE 817. MEDINA (LIMA) 607. PALAU 60182. OCLC 34093629, 78916120.
$2200.
Arguments Over Church Responsibility to the Indians in Peru
98. [Liñan y Cisneros, Melchor, and Montero del Aguila, Diego An-
drés]: OFENSA, Y DEFENSA DE LA LIBERTAD ECLESIASTICA. LA PRIMERA EN VEINTE Y QVATRO CAPITULOS, QUE
MANDÒ PUBLICAR EL EXCELENTISSIMO SEÑOR DUQUE
DE LA PALATA, VIRREY DEL PERÚ, EN DESPACHO DE 20
DE FEBRERO DE 1684. Y LA SEGUNDA ARMADA CON LOS
ESCUDOS CATLICOS DE LA LEY, Y LA RAZON, QUE ESTABLECEN LOS DOMINIOS DE SU MAGESTAD, Y DICTÒ
SU PROPRIA OBLIGACION AL EXCELENTISSIMO SEÑOR
DR. D. MELCHOR DE LIÑAN Y CISNEROS, ARÇOBISPO DE
LIMA. [Spain? 1685]. [208]pp. (104 numbered leaves). Woodcut vignette on
titlepage and ornamental initial on first page of text. In Spanish and Latin.
Folio. Dbd. Occasional contemporary marginalia. 7½-inch tear in four terminal
leaves, repaired with early glue and archival tape, affecting but not obscuring
text. Very good.
A rare Peruvian work, with debated authorship and printing, documenting a major
conflict between government and ecclesiastical authorities in Peru on issues of
the Church’s responsibility to the Indians. The text, written by or on behalf of
Don Melchor Liñan y Cisneros, the authoritarian archbishop of Lima and interim
viceroy of Peru between 1678 and 1681, attacks recent legislation by the current
viceroy, Melchor de Navarra y Rocafull, Duke of la Palata, intended to protect Peru’s
indigenous people from abuses by the Church. The first portion of the volume
reprints the new laws, which establish various new rights of Indians with respect
to the Church, including the power of police to bring charges against ecclesiastics for abuses of Indians, pay for all Indian labor done for the Church, and no
involuntary offerings forced from Indians during masses, festivities, etc. Liñan y
Cisneros responds to this “offense” against “ecclesiastical liberty” with a letter and
legal argument against this legislation and similar recent treatises on the subject
directed against the Church. Manuscript notes in the John Carter Brown copy
and in the copy seen by Vargas Ugarte suggest that, despite Liñan y Cisneros’s
printed signature at the end of the volume, the bulk of the text was composed by
the attorney and legal scholar, Diego Andrés Montero del Aguila. While Vargas
Ugarte lists the work as a Lima imprint in his Impresos Peruanos, he later wrote
that the Viceroy had unsurprisingly not authorized the work for printing in Peru
and that the Archbishop in turn circumvented his authority and had it printed by
Fraso and López y Martinez in Spain. OCLC lists six copies, with four in the U.S.,
at Berkeley, Brown, the Graduate Theological Union, and the Newberry Library.
MEDINA (BHA) 8479. PALAU 138613. VARGAS UGARTE 774. Rubén Vargas Ugarte, Historia
General de Perú, Vol. III (Lima, 1966), pp. 374-77. OCLC 82832397 ( JCB copy, with notes).
$6500.
With Two Superb Panoramic Views
99. Liot, W.B.: PANAMA, NICARAGUA, AND TEHUANTEPEC; OR,
CONSIDERATIONS UPON THE QUESTION OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC OCEANS.
London. 1849. iv,63pp. plus two panoramic folding views. Original blindstamped green cloth. Extremities a bit worn. One of the folding plates has a
small closed tear at one fold. From the library of noted collector Alberto Parreño, with his bookplate on the front pastedown. A very good copy. Inscribed
by the author on the front free endpaper.
Liot was a captain in the Royal Navy, whose many visits to Panama influenced his
view that a railroad or modern carriage road would be a more pragmatic method of
transportation than a canal. In this pithy work, he argues against the building of
a canal across “The Great Isthmus of America” because of the tremendous expense
involved, the conflict between private investment and public use, and endemic
problems with the land in question. The two panoramic views, an eleven-panel
view of the “Bay and Islands of Panama” and a seven-panel view of the “Harbour
of Portobelo,” are quite detailed and of significant interest.
SABIN 41389. SWANN PARREÑO SALE, 1978, lot 561 (this copy).
$2500.
100. Loayzaga, Manuel: HISTORIA DE LA MILAGROSISSIMA IMA-
GEN DE NRA. SRA. DE OCCOTLAN, QUE SE VENERA EXTRAMUROS DE LA CIUDAD DE TLAXCALA. DALA A NUEVA
LUZ.... Mexico: Reimpresso por la Viuda de D. Joseph Hogal, 1750. [28],
146,[2]pp. Small quarto. Contemporary limp vellum, later manuscript title
on spine, ties lacking. 19th-century ink notes on front free endpaper. Some
worming, mostly in lower gutter, not really affecting text. Previous owner’s
small, discreet blindstamp in upper outer corner of index leaf. Very good.
Second edition, following the first of 1745 published in Puebla. This edition is
enlarged and includes material not found in the earlier printing. Loayzaga was
the third caretaker of the shrine of the Virgin of Ocotlan in Tlaxcala, Mexico.
The statue of the Virgin in the shrine is said to have been taken from a tree near
a stream with healing powers, and has been an important devotional object since
the 16th century. Loayzaga’s work is the canonical history of the shrine and its
powers. His name is also sometimes spelled Loaizaga or Loaisaga.
MEDINA (MEXICO) 4001. PALAU 139385. LECLERC 1182. SUTRO COLLECTION, p.12.
$1350.
One of the First Works in English on World Exploration
101. Lopes de Castanheda, Fernao: THE FIRST BOOKE OF THE
HISTORIE OF THE DISCOVERIE AND CONQUEST OF THE
EAST INDIAS, ENTERPRISED BY THE PORTINGALES, IN
THEIR DAUNGEROUS NAVIGATIONS.... London: Thomas East,
1582. 170 leaves. Woodcut border device surrounding the titlepage, woodcut
initials throughout the text. Small quarto. 19th-century calf, ruled in blind, gilt
Pegasus device on front board. Binding lightly rubbed and shelfworn. Small
closed tear in upper margin of titlepage. Ex-Inner Temple Library, with their
bookplate on the front pastedown, two ink stamps on the titlepage (below the
ornamental border), one on the first page of text, and another on the verso
of the colophon. Very good.
The first English edition of one of the most important historical works of the first
great age of discovery, translating the first book of Castanheda’s work, originally
published in Coimbra in 1551. Translated by Nicholas Lichefield, this edition is
appropriately dedicated to Sir Francis Drake.
Most of the ...Historie... is devoted to the great Portuguese thrust into Asia in
the early 16th century, chronicling their epic expansion to India, the East Indies,
and China between 1497 and 1525. Castanheda himself spent some two decades in
the Portuguese colonies in the East, and so was well equipped to write this account.
It is one of the primary sources for the early Portuguese trading empire, a model
that the British were beginning to emulate at the time of publication. Penrose says
of the author: “...he wrote an impartial book of outspoken sincerity which was the
fruit of years of residence in the East.”
This work is equally important for its American content, being the first to describe in detail the voyage of Cabral and his discovery of Brazil in 1500, while on
his way to the East Indies. Cabral’s landing is the first recorded there, recounted
in chapters 29-31 of the present work.
“This English edition is very rare” – Hill. “A most interesting and rare book”
– Sabin. Not in Church. This work has become difficult to find.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 582/54. HILL 1035. BORBA DE MORAES, pp.166-67. Penrose,
Travel and Discovery in the Renaissance, pp.274-79. STC 16806. SABIN 11391. STREETER SALE
$65,000.
26.
John Carter Brown’s Copy, Acquired from Stevens
102. Lopez de Cogolludo, Diego: HISTORIA DE YUCATHAN. Madrid:
Juan Garcia Infanzon, 1688. [2],760,[31]pp. Lacks engraved half title and
thirteen preliminary leaves. Folio. Contemporary limp vellum with remnants
of ties. Front joint (inside) starting to open. Scattered foxing, including on
titlepage; short tear, repaired, in title; some staining in early margins and into
text; without the preliminaries or the added engraved title. Doodling in many
margins; ink stains from a careless quill user on several pages. John Carter
Brown’s stamped signature on p.1. A less than perfect copy that yet does not
“feel” maimed, and a copy with a distinguished provenance to match the distinction of the work. Provenance: Small book label: “Marchio Regaliae D.D.
1741.” John Carter Brown (1797-1874) purchased this from Henry Stevens
in 1845/1846; on his death to his son John Nicholas Brown (1861-1900);
on his death deeded to the John Carter Brown Library; deaccessioned 2008.
In this account of the conquest and Spanish settlement of the Yucatan, Lopez de
Cogolludo, a Franciscan missionary and administrator originally from Alcal de
Henares, presents a sought-after account. He had access to a manuscript version of
Bishop Landa’s work and consulted such important printed sources as Torquemada.
He also presents his personal eye-witness accounts of events during his thirty years
among the Maya (1634-65).
Robert Patch says in the Encyclopedia of Latin American History & Culture that
Lopez de Cogolludo wrote this history in the 1650s and that it is “a major source
not only for the history of Yucatan but also for the study of Maya culture.”
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 688/151. MEDINA (BHA) 1821. PALAU 141001. Encyclopedia of
Latin American History & Culture III, p.458.
$9250.
Landmark Early Chronicle of the New World
103. [Lopez de Gomara, Francisco]: THE PLEASANT HISTORIE OF
THE CONQUEST OF THE WEAST [sic] INDIA, NOW CALLED
NEW SPAYNE, ACHIEVED BY THE WORTHY PRINCE HERNANDO CORTES, MARQUES OF THE VALLEY OF HUAXACAC.... London: Henry Bynneman, [1578]. [12],405,[3]pp. Woodcut vignette
on titlepage, woodcut initials (several historiated). Small quarto. 19th-century
black morocco, spine gilt. Extremities rubbed. Bookplate on front pastedown.
Foredge of titlepage neatly remargined. Very good.
The first English edition of one of the most important early chronicles of the
Spanish conquest of the New World, and one of the two chief accounts of Cortés’
conquest of Mexico, the other being provided by Bernal Diaz. It is one of a handful of English language publications about the New World to appear in the 16th
century, and an attractively printed work, with several large woodcut initials.
Lopez de Gomara was Cortés’ secretary for a number of years, and made use of
his unparalleled opportunity to gather information from the primary source relating to the extraordinary exploits surrounding the overthrow of the Aztec empire.
“Contains the first printed accounts of the Cortes expeditions to California, the
expeditions of Francisco Ulloa, Marcos de Niza, Coronado, the subsidiary expeditions resulting from the last, and the voyage of Cabrillo” – Wagner. The work was
first published in Zaragosa in 1552, and quickly went through a number of editions
in Spain, Italy, and the Low Countries. The English translation was prepared by
Thomas Nicholas, who abridged the original.
A vital Elizabethan Americanum.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 578/41. WAGNER SPANISH SOUTHWEST, 2pp. SABIN 27751.
CHURCH 123. STC 16807. PALAU 141184. HILL 1037 (2nd ed).
$45,000.
104. Lopez, Francisco: SERMON PANEGIRICO DE LA CONCEP-
CION IMMACULADA DE N.S. PRIMERA FIESTA QUE CONSAGRO EN EL SEGUNDO DIA DEL OCTAVARIO QUE SE
CELEBRA EN LA SANTA IGLESIA METROPOLITANA DE LA
CIUDAD DE LOS REYES.... Lima: Luis de Lyra, 1682. [6],17 leaves.
Small quarto. Later half sheep and marbled boards. Spine worn, heavily at
head and foot. Light soiling and foxing in text. About very good.
Sermon on the Immaculate Conception. Medina notes a copy in the National
Library of Chile; no copies listed on OCLC.
MEDINA (LIMA) 531. VARGAS UGARTE 726.
$2750.
105. Loyola, Juan de: EL CORAZON SAGRADO DE JESUS, DESCU-
BIERTO A NUESTRA ESPANA EN LA BREVE NOTICIA DE SU
DULCISSIMO CULTO, PROPAGADO YA EN VARIAS PROVINCIAS DEL ORBE CHRISTIANO. Lima: En la Imprenta nueva, que
esta en la Casa de los Ninos Expositos, [between 1758 and 1760]. [23],194
[i.e. 193], [16]pp. Contemporary limp vellum, lettered on spine, remnants of
pigskin ties. Rear hinge separated from text block, several leaves loosening.
Light scattered foxing and dampstaining. About very good.
Second edition of this religious work by Juan de Loyola, which was first published
in Valladolid in 1727 under the title, Thesoro Escondido en el Sacratissimo Corazon
de Jesus. Though the preliminary matter is signed with a date of 1738, the John
Carter Brown Library notes that the Casa de los Niños Expositos was referred to
as “nueva” between 1758 and 1760. Not in Medina. The JCB has the only copy
listed on OCLC.
VARGAS UGARTE 2926. OCLC 78541373.
$1500.
106. M’Ilvaine, William: [ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR PAINTING
BY GOLD RUSH ARTIST WILLIAM M’ILVAINE, TITLED “ON
THE WALLS OF PANAMA”]. New York. [1850]. Watercolor on paper,
6¾ x 9½ inches. Matted and framed. Titled in ink on the mat. Some wear to
the frame around the edges. The painting itself is in fine condition.
A lovely and vibrant watercolor of the Panama coast, painted by artist William
M’Ilvaine from a scene he personally observed while on his way to California during
the gold rush in 1849. The scene shows the coast and water on the right, with a
pair of buildings among palm trees and lush vegetation on the left, with mountains
in the far background. The buildings are rather sophisticated two-story structures,
painted white, and with balconies and bright red roofs. A person wearing a straw
hat crouches before a basket in the left foreground. The sky in the distance is
pink with the color of dusk, and a small boat, perhaps back from the day’s catch,
is anchored in the water. The coloring and detail of the scene are quite fine, and
it is a very fine work. M’Ilvaine trained as an artist in Europe, and was a very accomplished painter, among the best who went to California during the gold rush.
The quality of this painting ranks it among the best renderings of 19th-century
Central America available.
M’Ilvaine sailed to San Francisco from Callao, Peru in the late spring of 1849,
reaching San Francisco on June 1. He spent five months in California, making
sketches along the Tuolumne, Stanislaus, and Merced rivers, and in San Francisco,
Sacramento, and Stockton. He travelled back to his home on the East Coast by
sailing to Acapulco and then going overland across Mexico to Veracruz. The scene
of a small coastal village in Panama, therefore, would have been observed and
sketched by M’Ilvaine during his voyage to San Francisco in the spring of 1849.
This finished watercolor painting was created by M’Ilvaine in New York in 1850,
but is not included in his book of sixteen views in California and Mexico published
that same year. Between 1851 and 1855, he exhibited twenty-five paintings and
watercolors of western scenes, including works that were made into lithographs
for his book, as well as scenes in England, North Wales, Scotland, New England,
Pennsylvania, and Panama (see Cleland). It is likely that this lovely painting of
Panama was among those watercolors.
William M’Ilvaine (1813-67) was born in Philadelphia and studied art in Europe after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1832. He lived in
Philadelphia, took up art professionally, moved to New York in 1845, and travelled
to the California gold fields and Mexico in 1849. In 1850 he returned to the East
Coast and published Sketches of Scenery and Notes of Personal Adventures in California
and Mexico, featuring sixteen lithographic plates of his views, some of the earliest
published on-the-spot views of the gold region. He worked in New York in the
mid-1850s, and painted there until volunteering for the New York 5th Regiment
during the Civil War.
A fine mid-19th-century painting of Panama, done from the observations of
one of the most talented gold rush artists while on his way to California.
Who Was Who in American Art, p.2129. HUGHES, ARTISTS IN CALIFORNIA, 1786-1940, II,
p.370. Robert G. Cleland (foreword), Sketches of Scenery and Notes of Personal Adventures in California and
Mexico (San Francisco, 1951), pp.iii-ix.
$3000.
Early South American Linguistics
107. Marban, Pedro: ARTE DE LA LENGVA MOXA, CONSU VOCABULARIO, Y CATHECISMO...[caption title]. [Lima]: Joseph de
Contreras, [1702]. [16],664pp. [bound with:] CATHECISMO MENOR
EN LENGVA ESPANOLA, Y MOXA [caption title]. 202,[1]pp. Thick
12mo. Later mottled calf, gilt-stamped spine, red gilt morocco label. Later
ownership signature on verso of titlepage. Internally bright and clean. A fine
copy.
A rare vocabulary and catechism of Moxa, the language spoken by the natives of
southern Bolivia. The catechism, present herein, is usually lacking. Notable both
as an important linguistic piece and an early imprint. “The language of the nation
of the province of ‘los Moxos,’ in Bolivia, South America. Their language is related
to the Maipure. This is the only work on the subject” – Sabin. Sabin records the
date as 1701, while Medina believes it to be 1702. A manuscript note on the front
free endpaper of the present copy indicates it was purchased by the noted London
firm, Bernard Quaritch, Ltd., in 1918, while a stamp on the front pastedown gives
evidence it was later sold by the American Antiquarian Society. Extremely rare.
OCLC locates only two copies.
PALAU 150837, 150838. MEDINA (LIMA) 712. SABIN 44465. OCLC 44821383.
$6000.
Wonderful Watercolors of Vaqueros
108. [Martin, Henry Byam]: [GROUP OF ELEVEN ORIGINAL WA-
TERCOLOR SKETCHES AND INK DRAWINGS OF VAQUEROS IN MEXICO AND CHILE]. [Mexico or Chile. 1847-1848]. Watercolor paintings or ink and wash drawings on variously sized sheets of paper
(see below). In near fine condition, uniformly matted. In an oblong folio cloth
clamshell case, leather label.
A fine collection of beautifully drawn watercolors and ink and wash sketches of
cowboys and cowboy culture in Mexico and Chile. The images were drawn by
Captain Henry Byam Martin, a commander in the British Navy, the son of an
admiral, and himself a future admiral. They were done while Martin was captain
of the H.M.S. Grampus, a fifty-gun ship, in the Pacific. Martin took command of
the Grampus in November 1845, and based on the dates on six of the images, they
were created in Mexico or Chile in 1847 and 1848. Two are noted as being done
in Tepic, in southwestern Mexico, near Guadalajara, and another is identified as
having been made in Santiago. The watercolors and drawings show vaqueros and
shepherds riding horses, roping, tending their herds, and relaxing. Virtually every
drawing exhibits an eye for ethnological detail in the wonderful depiction of the
costumes and accoutrements of the cowboys and their horses. A few of the images
are of local women as well.
Henry Byam Martin (1803-65) , the second son of Admiral Thomas Byam Martin,
entered the Royal Naval College at the age of thirteen. He rose steadily through the
ranks of the Royal Navy, being made a lieutenant in 1823, a commander in 1825,
and a captain in 1827. Martin was second in command of the Baltic fleet during
the Crimean War, and was elevated to the rank of Admiral in 1864, a year before
his death. He spent much time sailing in the Mediterranean and the Pacific, but
he also visited North and South America. Martin is best known for his published
account of his journey in Polynesia in 1846-47, but he conducted a lengthy tour of
eastern Canada and the eastern United States in 1832-33. He created sketches and
drawings on many of his journeys, including scenes in Charleston, South Carolina
in 1833, sketches of his tours through Greece and Turkey in 1835, and in Portugal
and Spain in 1860.
The images are as follow:
1) “Casa Blanca 20th June 1848.” Watercolor on a 7½ x 8¼-inch sheet. A colorful
watercolor of a vaquero on his horse, pictured from the side. The cowboy is fully
outfitted in his regalia, including large spurs. Likely done in Chile, due to the
presence of the characteristic tall Chilean cowboy hat.
2) “Tepic 1848 19th March.” Ink and wash on a 6¼ x 8-inch sheet. An attractive
drawing of a vaquero on horseback, the horse reared up on its hind legs and the
vaquero in the midst of throwing his lasso.
3) “Mexican.” Watercolor on an 8¼ x 5¾-inch sheet. A colorful watercolor showing details of a Mexican cowboy’s hat, his whip, and his pants and shoes. The
manuscript caption reads: “The hat band is of massive [?] & the drops & buttons.
The Mexican hat is of great weight.”
4) Untitled watercolor o n an 11 x 6¾-inch sheet. A wonderful watercolor showing
a beautifully dressed cowboy (almost certainly from Mexico) wearing his large
hat and embroidered pants and jacket. He holds a whip in his right hand, and
a cape over his left shoulder. The image bears a strong resemblance to the vaquero pictured in number eleven, below, which was done in Tepic, Mexico in
December 1847.
5) Untitled ink and wash drawing on a 5 x 10½-inch sheet. A very attractive drawing
of a cowboy on horseback in the process of lassoing a galloping horse.
6) Untitled watercolor o n an 8 x 12¼-inch sheet, dated “Santiago 3rd September
1847.” An interesting and handsome composite drawing, showing three views
of a Chilean cowboy, as well as front and rear views of a Chilean woman. There
are also details of a tall Chilean cowboy hat, spurs, stirrups, and a boot, as well
as a drawing of a cowboy on horseback.
7) Composite ink and wash drawings on a 7 x 10¼-inch sheet, containing four separate drawings: a) a profile view of a horse’s head with a bridle in its mouth and a
caption reading “the head stock black leather with massive lumps of silver on it”;
b) profile view of a cowboy wearing spurs while walking, with a caption reading
“the men are obliged to walk on tiptoes, to keep their spurs off the ground”; c)
a rear view of a cowboy on a horse, captioned “Postillion”; d) an uncaptioned
profile view of a woman.
8) Untitled watercolor on a 6¾ x 10¼-inch sheet. A lovely drawing of two vaqueros,
one on foot and leading his horse, the other on horseback. The colors of the
cowboys’ ponchos and the horse’s blanket are especially vivid.
9) Untitled ink and wash drawing on a 5¾ x 8-inch sheet, dated “1st Sept. 1847.”
Presumably done in Santiago, Chile, due to the proximity in date with the
other sketch dated September 3, 1847. An attractive drawing of a vaquero on
horseback and two more cowboys seated on the ground nearby. All three wear
the characteristic tall hat of the Chilean cowboys.
10) “A Chile Shepherd.” Ink and wash on a 5¾ x 7¾-inch sheet. A profile view of a
shepherd on horseback in a large valley. He also wears a tall Chilean hat.
11) “Tepic – (Mexico) 28th December 1847.” Watercolor on a 9½ x 13-inch sheet.
A fantastic and beautifully colored drawing of a vaquero on horseback in full
regalia and sitting tall in the saddle. His horse is colorfully outfitted, and he
wears a red bandana under his wide-brimmed hat. The cowboy’s long sword
is sheathed on the left side of his horse. A great image of a Mexican cowboy.
A fine collection of images of Mexican and Chilean cowboys, by a talented British
sailor. $22,500.
109. Martinez, Claudio: CONSEJOS A LA EMIGRACION ARGENTI-
NA. POR EL EMIGRADO C.M. AL REGRESAR A SU PATRIA.
Valparaiso: Imprenta Europea, 1849. 48pp. 12mo. 20th-century calf. Contemporary ink inscription on titlepage, small ink marks in upper-outer corner of
pages. Occasional minor foxing on titlepage, light age toning in text. A very
good copy.
A rare mid-19th-century Valparaiso imprint encouraging Argentineans who had
emigrated to Chile to return to their homeland. The work is addressed primarily to
the exiles who had departed the country during the reign of dictator Juan Manuel
de Rosas, who ruled Argentina from 1829 to 1852. “The tyrant enjoyed his power
for a total of twenty-three years, from 1829 to 1852, and his ‘sum total of power’
for the last seventeen years of that period. Yet ‘invulnerable’ as Rosas seemed to be
while he was dictator, his authority was gradually being weakened. Almost from
the very first moment the intellectuals saw through his demagogy. After opposing
it without success they fled into exile, where distance, separation, and loss gave
them more strength and a better perspective than they could ever have achieved
otherwise” – Crow. Martinez reflects at length on reasons why the exiles should
return to Argentina, and calls for his fellow émigrés to accompany him (here in
translation): “Argentinos! The moment has already arrived for all of us to return
to our homeland. Accept the counsel of one your companions in misfortune: your
country is to be claimed.”
A curious work, with an epigraph from Lord Byron in English on the titlepage.
A rare Chilean imprint, not in Palau or Sabin. OCLC records copies at Bancroft,
Harvard, and the National Library of Chile.
OCLC 14881281. Crow, The Epic of Latin America, p.591.
$2000.
Important Source for Primary Material on the New World
110. Martyr, Peter; Gonzalo Oviedo; and Giovanni Ramusio: [SUMMA-
RIO DE LA GENERAL HISTORIA DE L’INDIE OCCIDENTALI
...(title given on verso of first leaf )]. Venice. 1534. 79; 64,[2]; [15] leaves.
Double-sheet map. Bound to style in 18th-century calf. Very good.
This important collection of voyages and narratives is the work of several authors,
although most bibliographers attribute it to Peter Martyr, a translation of whose
work makes up the first section. The present volume is one of the first attempts
anywhere to assemble a group of accounts of travel and exploration. It was probably
assembled for publication by the Venetian, Giovanni Ramusio, later famous for his
much larger collection, Delle Navigationi et Viaggi..., which began publication in 1554.
The Historia is divided into three books. The first part is made up of material from the Decades of Peter Martyr, drawn from the edition of 1530, the first
complete edition to present all eight Decades. The second and most important
part is drawn from the first published work of the great historian and chronicler
of the early West Indies, Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo’s De la Natural Hystoria
de las Indias (Toledo, 1526). Since that pioneering work of American natural history (which is a completely different book from Oviedo’s later Historia General...)
is virtually unobtainable today, the present 1534 publication is the only form in
which the first work of Oviedo can be had. Oviedo’s observations are the first accurate reports of New World plants and animals. He also provides one of the first
accounts of Bermuda, where he tried to land while en route to Spain in 1515, only
to be driven off by adverse winds. The distinction of being the first obtainable
edition is also true of the third part, a translation of an anonymously written tract
entitled La Conquista de Peru, first published in Seville, also in 1534, of which only
three copies survive. It gives the text of the tract in full. Both are among the first
published accounts of the conquest of Peru.
The woodcuts in the text are both drawn from the work of Oviedo and made
up by the Venetian printers. They are some of the earliest published images of the
New World based on actual experience, as opposed to the fantasies of European
woodcut artists. There is also a handsome double-page woodcut map of Hispaniola,
an extremely early piece of detailed New World cartography.
Perhaps the earliest voyage collection, a work of tremendous importance in the
dissemination of knowledge of the New World to Europe.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 534/28. HARRISSE 190. CHURCH 69. ARENTS 3. JCB (3)I:114.
SABIN 1565. STREETER SALE 13.
$45,000.
111. [Mexican-American War]: CONTESTACIONES HABIDAS EN-
TRE EL SUPREMO GOBIERNO MEXICANO, EL GENERAL
EN GEFE DEL EJERCITO AMERICANO, Y EL COMISSIONADO DE LOS ESTADOS-UNIDOS. Mexico. 1847. 36pp. 12mo. Original
printed wrappers, stitched. Wrappers chipped along spine, bookplate on verso
of front wrapper. Light, even tanning. Very good. In a half morocco and cloth
folding box, spine gilt.
The second and best issue, with the letter from Jose de Herrera printed at the conclusion of the text. Many documents, proposals for treaties and counter-proposals,
instructions, and papers of U.S. envoys Trist and Scott regarding the negotiations
for the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Texas, Alta California, and New Mexico are
discussed in various segments, including Trist’s offer to let Mexico retain San Diego
harbor by establishing a southern boundary of California at the 33rd parallel. One
of the more intriguing Mexican War pamphlets.
HOWES C717. STREETER SALE 259. SABIN 48397. HAFERKORN, p.26. EBERSTADT
160:338. PALAU 60644.
$1500.
Mexico’s Greatest Illustrated Periodical from the 19th Century
112. [Mexican Lithography]: LA ORQUESTA. Mexico. 1867-1873. Six volumes of “Tercero Epoca.” 1867: Vol. I, nos. 1-54 ( June 26 – Dec. 28, 1867);
1868: Vol. I, nos. 55-106 ( Jan. 2 – June 27, 1868) and Vol. II, nos. 1-45
( Jul. 1 – Dec. 30, 1868); 1869: Vol. II, nos. 46-149 ( Jan. 2 – Dec. 29, 1869);
1870: Vol. III, nos. 1-105 ( Jan. 5 – Dec. 31, 1870); 1871: Vol. IV, nos. 1-104
( Jan. 4 – Dec. 30, 1871); 1873: Vol. VI, nos. 1-105 ( Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 1873).
Each issue 4pp., with one lithograph per issue. Folio. Contemporary half tan
Mexican sheep over mottled boards, spine gilt. Some overall shelf wear, joints
rubbed, text block of final volume loose in binding. Plate twelve in volume
1878 has dime-size hole caused by paper flaw; 1869 volume lacks plate 118
but has added lithographed titlepage; volume 1878 lacks No. 8, its plate, and
plate 96, but has hors-series plate; 1871 volume lacks No. 5 and its plate.
Instances of dampstaining, light foxing, a few plates wrinkled, contemporary
ownership signatures on front free endpapers of first two volumes. Overall,
a very good set.
A wonderful and extensive run of this 19th-century Mexican periodical, of great
interest for its vast number of lithographic political cartoons. The lithographic
plates, numbering over 500, in this run of La Orquesta, all of which belong to the
third series and most of which were executed by master draftsmen Constantino
Escalante, Vicente Riva Palacio, and Hesiquio Iriarte, represent some of the most
exquisite early specimens of Mexico’s nationalistic print-making art, a tradition that
began with illustrations in a handful of liberal periodicals such as La Orquesta, and
later blossomed to influence and encompass such prolific talents as Jose Guadalupe
Posada and Jose Clemente Orozco.
Popular lithography in 19th-century Mexico reached its zenith with the caricaturas, or political caricatures, such as those contained in La Orquesta. The narrative
style of the cartoons combined with biting political satire and the use of decidedly
Mexican emblematic metaphors evoke the peculiar Mexican caricatura style. Although the lithographs reveal hints of French influence in matters of decorations,
they reflect more the genesis of Mexico’s own satiric genre in lithography. This
view is supported by Joyce Waddell Bailey, an authority on Mexican graphic art:
“Outside of [a few] circumstantial affinities to the tradition of French magazines
of caricature, we find little influence of a specific nature in the prints. Rather, the
Mexican lithographs show highly original themes, and styles vary from artist to artist and journal to journal. To a certain extent we can see here traces of how highly
creative artists work. A new idea or image may act as a stimulus, but it is combined
in the artist’s own work with such agility and acuity that it becomes impossible to
accurately delineate specific sources of influence” – Tyler (p.96). Indeed, Escalante
and the staff of La Orquesta attained an international reputation, and even attracted
Europeans hoping to learn the art of satirical lithography in their Mexico City shop.
Sabin called La Orquesta the Mexican Punch, but the themes depicted remain
fully Mexican. Each issue consists of four pages plus a single full-sheet lithographic
plate, with a printed caption. Besides standing as influential examples of Mexican
lithography, the plates are of much interest as documents of the French intervention period in Mexico, the reign of Emperor Maximilian, and the political turmoil
of the period. “La Orquesta, a periodical of political satire, established lithographic
caricature as a field of its own through the excellent work of Constantino Escalante,
virtual pillar of the publication until his untimely death in a railroad accident at
Tlalpan in 1868” – Mathes. Manuel Toussaint, in his study of 19th-century Mexican
lithography, describes the political caricatures in La Orquesta as “a terrible weapon
at the command of caustic satire. Two colossal humorists debut here: Vicente Riva
Palacio and Constantino Escalante. They did more with their pen and pencil than
many a general has with an entire army. La Orquesta reveals, nay lays bare, an entire era in Mexican history.” This run also contains the very last image produced
by Escalante before his death in 1868 (Vol. II, No. 30) with the following issue
devoted almost entirely to him.
La Orquesta commenced publication in 1861 and was issued weekly through
four series or epocas before ceasing publication sometime in 1877. The Union List
of Serials locates partial sets at twelve North American libraries. The style and content of La Orquesta is a foundation for much of later Mexican art. Such influential
graphic artists as Posada and Orozco drew directly on the images which appear here
in shaping their styles, and thus La Orquesta is seminal to modern Latin American
art. A gold mine of Mexican lithographic art and caricature.
PALAU 204579. SABIN 57650. Tyler, ed., Posada’s Mexico, pp.94-100 and passim. MATHES,
MEXICO ON STONE, p.30. GRABADOS MEXICANOS: AN HISTORICAL EXHIBITION
OF MEXICAN GRAPHICS 1839-1974 (Mount Holyoke College, 1974), passim. TOUSSAINT, LA
LITOGRAFIA EN MEXICO EN EL SIGLO XIX (1934), p.xxvi.
$22,500.
Printed in Two Colors
113. [Mexican Missal]: MISSA GOTHICA SEU MOZARABICA, ET
OFFICIUM ITIDEM GOTHICUM DILIGENTER AC DILUCIDE EXPLANATA AD USUM PERCELEBRIS MAZARABUM
SACELLI TOLETI A MUNIFICENTISSIMO CARDINAL XIMENIO ERECTI.... Angelopoli [i.e. Puebla]: Seminarii Palafoxiani, 1770.
[8],137,198pp. plus three plates. Printed in red and black. Antique-style threequarter calf and marbled boards. Two plates pasted to adjacent leaf. Moderate
worming, occasionally affecting text. Very minor foxing and soiling. Overall
good.
Liturgical work in the Mozarabic Rite of the Catholic Church, printed for the Mozarabic Chapel in Toledo. The text is illustrated with three copper plate engravings
and includes music and Greek text, also printed from copper plates. “The work is
in two parts, printed in red and black; it is particularly interesting as a specimen of
Mexican typography, for its fine rubrics, its three plates and musical notations, etc.,
engraved on copper. The three plates and the insignia (on leaf 2) were engraved
by Josephus Nava of Angelopoli” – Harper.
MEDINA (PUEBLA) 864. PALAU 172923. SABIN 49459. LATHROP HARPER 165:628.
$950.
Establishing a Chaplaincy in Mexico
114. [Mexico]: FUNDACION DE UNA CAPP. COLATIVA IN MEXICO
QUE FUNDO EL. ILLMO. SOR. DN. JUAN IGNACIO DE CASTORENA...[manuscript cover title]. [Mexico. 1757]. 23,[45] leaves. Folio.
Contemporary vellum, manuscript title on cover. Inner front hinge broken.
Minor edge wear. Internally bright and clean. Very good.
This manuscript provides the full text of Don Juan Ignacio de Castorena’s statement regarding a bequest from Doña Maria Gall de Escarada, who had appointed
Castorena her executor. Castorena, the Bishop of Mexico, was to spend 8000 pesos
on endowing a chaplaincy to serve masses for her first husband, Don Martin de
Possada. The manuscript includes an extensive amount of detail regarding invest-
ment of the fund, the names of the trustees, and the ordering of the Masses. The
Masses, eighty total every year, were to be said on specially designated saint’s days
and holy days.
A good example of church patronage in early Mexico.
MAGGS, BIBLIOTHECA AMERICANA III:2123 (1923) (this manuscript).
$3500.
Handcolored Original Illustration
of a Mexican Battery on the Pacific in 1769
115. [Mexico]: Castillo, Antonio de: BATERÌA PROVISIONAL QUE SE
ESTÀ CONSTRUYENDO EN EL PUERTO DEL MANZANILLO
[caption title]. [Manzanillo. ca. 1769]. Handcolored original illustration, 15 x
14 inches. Previously folded, later mounted on stiff card. Contemporary blue,
yellow, and red washes remain clean and bright. Scale-bar in lower margin,
additional notations to right and left. Old institutional stamp on verso. Very
good. Archival matting, and protected with Mylar sheet.
A manuscript plan of an artillery battery, construction of which began in 1769,
with a cross-section in profile below. The quarters of the officials and troops are
indicated, together with the gunpowder stores, kitchen, communal areas, and sleeping quarters. Accompanying the cross-section is a note explaining that the line of
profile is only of a certain length due to a lack of adequately sized paper. Plans
such as this were most often composed in multiple copies by colonial officials and
transmitted to Spain. Though similar views survive in the Spanish Department of
the Marine and like institutions, they are extremely rare in the market. An attractive illustration of the colonial defenses of a key southwest Mexican port.
$3000.
Early Mexican Silver Mining
116. [Mexico]: [Placci, Gennaro]: STATEMENT OF FACTS RELA-
TIVE TO THE NEGOTIATION OF CERRO DEL BOTE, IN
THE STATE OF ZACATECAS, MEXICO. London. 1838. 36pp. plus
colored frontispiece map. Modern plain wrappers. 1½-inch closed tear in upper
portion of map, with no loss. Final text page a bit dusty. Overall very good.
A rare report on the potentials of the silver mines in the Cerro del Bote region
of Zacatecas, in north-central Mexico. The map shows the positions of the silver
veins on the Cerro del Bote, and the text gives an enthusiastic appraisal of the
riches to be gained from the “virgin ground” of the “enormous” mines of the area.
This pamphlet was produced to drum up support for the Cerro del Bote Mining
Association, based in London, and potential subscribers are urged to send in payments for shares. The main body of the text is signed in print at the conclusion by
“Gennaro Placci” and dated April 1838 in London. An appendix contains extracts
from Mexican government reports on the mining qualities of Zacatecas. R.W.G.
Vail (who was editing Sabin at that point) notes that the Sabin entry is from “a ms.
slip prepared by Joseph Sabin,” implying that Vail himself never saw a copy. No
copies are listed on OCLC or the NUC – this is apparently the only located copy.
Rare and interesting.
SABIN 90694.
$600.
Mexico Re-admits the Jesuits
117. [Mexico]: Canalizo, Valentin: EL C. VALENTIN CANALIZO,
GENERAL DE DIVISION, GOBERNADOR Y COMANDANTE GENERAL DEL DEPARTAMENTO DE MÉXICO. POR EL
MINISTERIO DE JUSTICIA E INSTRUCCION PUBLICA SE
ME HA COMUNICADO CON FECHA DE AYER EL DECRETO SIGUIENTE.... [Mexico. June 22, 1843]. Broadside, 12¾ x 9 inches.
Tanned. Worn around the edges and with a few small closed tears. Very good.
In a half calf and cloth folding box, spine gilt.
Rare first printing of this significant decree, re-admitting the Jesuits into the
Southwest, including California and New Mexico, in order to “civilize” the local
Indians. “Since three hundred years of force and conquest had not been sufficient
to introduce civilization to the wild Indians of the Mexican frontier areas, Santa
Anna authorized the readmittance of the Jesuits to establish missions in the Californias, New Mexico, Sonora, Sinaloa, Durango, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Texas
to Christianize and subdue them” – Howell. This decree was issued by Santa Anna
at Tacubaya on June 21, 1843, and ordered printed in Mexico City on June 22. The
California missions had been secularized a decade earlier. The Jesuits, who had
done so much in the development of the Spanish Southwest, had been expelled
from the region in the mid-18th century. The text of this decree was reprinted in
August 1843, but the present broadside appears to be the first printed appearance
of this consequential directive, which was paternalism of the highest order.
HOWELL 50:37A. OCLC 28092115 (ref ).
$2750.
118. [Mexico]: CARTAS POSTALES DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS
MEXICANOS. 1908. Mexico. 1908. Ten large folding maps. Original
green publisher’s cloth binding, stamped in black and white. Cloth rubbed at
extremities; lightly soiled. Minor toning and foxing. Very good.
A remarkable atlas, in the form of portfolio of maps of the postal roads in Mexico,
showing the roads in each state. The relevant state represented on each map is
colored, with the districts outlined and labeled. Railroads, major cities, and bodies
of water are also present on the maps. Only five copies recorded by OCLC.
$1500.
With an Early Map of the Rio Grande Border
119. [Mexico-Texas Border]: MEMORIA DEL SECRETARIO DE ES-
TADO Y DEL DESPACHO DE GUERRA Y MARINA, LEIDA EN
LA CAMARA DE DIPUTADOS LOS DIAS 30 Y 31 DE ENERO, Y
EN LA DE SENADORES EN 13 DE FEBRERO DE 1852. Mexico:
Imprenta de Vicente G. Torres, 1852. 118,[1],57pp. plus one folding plate (25
x 35 inches) and one folding map (10½ x 23½ inches). The second page count
includes three folding charts. Contemporary polished Mexican calf, boards
stamped in blind, boards and spine extravagantly gilt, a.e.g. Yellow pastedowns
and endpapers darkened. Titlepage age-toned, bottom third dampstained; two
old small German institutional stamps in lower portion of page. Folding plate
and folding map clean and crisp. Old tear in inner margin of folding plate
repaired, absolutely not affecting image. Presentation inscription (see below).
A very good copy.
A presentation copy of an illustrated report delivered to the Mexican legislature,
inscribed from the author, Secretario de Estado y del Despacho de Guerra y Marina
Manuel Robles Pezuela, to Baron de Reichthofen, the Minister Plenipotentiary
of Prussia. Of great interest are the two large folding lithographic illustrations: a
plate of geographic and topographic plans of three military colonies in the Sierra
Gordo, and a map of the Rio Grande and northern Mexican frontier states of
Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nueva Leon, Tamaulipas, Durango, Zacatecas, and
San Luis. Entitled “Carta de la frontera del norte de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos,” the map’s border with the United States is delineated according to the Treaty
of Guadalupe Hidalgo of February 2, 1848. The large plate related to military
establishments in the Sierra Gordo region of the state of Querétaro, “Cuadro que
comprende la situacion geográfica y topográfica de las colonias militares de Sierra
Gorda,” consists of a map of the region and six plans, two each for the military
settlements of Santa Rosa de Uraga, Purisima de Arista, and San Ciro de Albercas.
These plans provide geographic and topographic information about the sites as well
as the plans for streets and plazas in each town. Both illustrations are fine examples
of mid-19th-century Mexican cartography and lithography.
Complementing the plan and the map, the Memoria provides detailed accounts of
the frontier regions in the north and west of the country as well as specific military
activity in Chihuahua and Sierra Gorda. Sections of the text are devoted to the
state of the army, militia, the national guard, fortifications, and laws related to the
military. In addition, various border conflicts with the U.S. military are noted, as
are military battles with Indians inside the country. The second half of the work is
devoted to documents cited in the Memoria, including written reports and charts.
Several of the latter are presented within detailed typographic boarders. A scarce
and extremely informative report, complete with large folding plate and folding
map which are often lacking. OCLC locates six copies in the U.S.
OCLC 14066972.
$3500.
120. Mitchell, S. Augustus: MEXICO & GUATEMALA. Philadelphia.
1846. Folding handcolored pocket map, 12½ x 15 inches. Tipped into original
12mo cloth folder. Front cover detached. Boards lightly rubbed at extremities.
Minor scattered foxing, including one notable spot in Texas. Color bright and
fresh. About very good.
A pocket variation of Mitchell’s map of Mexico and Guatemala. “This is based
largely on 1845 Fremont” – Wheat. Mitchell issued several maps of Mexico and
the surrounding area in 1846, and this map appears to have gone through several
editions. The handcolored map shows all the states of Mexico, including Upper
and Lower California, and parts of the American Southwest. It also has insets of
the Valley of Mexico and of Guatemala. Not in Phillips. Scarce.
WHEAT TRANSMISSISSIPPI 519 (ref ).
$750.
121. Montalvo, Francisco Antonio de: EL SOL DEL NUEVO MUNDO
IDEADO Y COMPUESTO EN LAS ESCLARECIDAS OPERACIONES DEL BIENAVENTURADO TORIBIO ARCOBISPO DE
LIMA. Rome. 1683. [20],540,[27]pp. plus engraved portrait. Folio. Later
vellum, with vellum closures. Text heavily wormed. Light to moderate foxing.
First three and last ten leaves worn and backed. Fair.
A biography of Saint Toribio Alfonso de Mogrovejo (1538-1606), second Archbishop
of Lima, with an engraved portrait of him. Mogrovejo was beatified in 1679 by
Pope Innocent XI and canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1729. Only a handful
of copies on OCLC.
PALAU 177319. MEDINA (BHA) 1751. SABIN 50071. OCLC 3774532.
$2750.
122. Moscoso y Peralta, Juan Manuel de: ARANZEL DE DERECHOS
ECLESIASTICOS PARROQUIALES, DE HOSPITALES, CURIA
ECLESIASTICA, Y SECRETARIA DE CAMARA DEL OBISPADO DEL CUZCO. Lima: Imprenta Real, Calle de Concha, 1782. [4],155
[i.e. 157]pp. Folio. Contemporary limp vellum with remnants of string ties,
labelled on spine. Binding nearly detached from text block. Some minor soiling, but generally quite clean. Very good.
An interesting and curious work of canonic law, stating the various official duties
and levies related to the administration of Cuzco Bishopric, among them funeral
charges, destiny of the wax employed in altars, visit fee, right of judges in civil
and criminal lawsuits, right of the interpreter and town crier, etc. Six copies on
OCLC. Not in Palau.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1533. VARGAS UGARTE 2309. OCLC 55267115, 84326933, 31612546,
54229083.
$2750.
123. Mossi, Honorio: DICCIONARIO CASTELLANO-QUICHUA. Sucre: Imprenta Boliviana, April 28, 1860. Title-leaf plus 224 numbered columns
on fifty-six leaves. Gathered signatures, stitched. Light numerical inscription
in red pencil on titlepage. Minor wear and soiling to outer leaves. Very good.
The second part of Fray Honorio Mossi’s monumental Quechua-Spanish / Spanish-Quechua dictionary, this part being the latter (translating Spanish words into
Quechua), issued with a separate titlepage, which is present here. The author, Fray
Honorio Mossi, was an Italian linguist working in Bolivia, who has been noted for
calling the Quechua language “more perfect than Latin and Greek” (Marr, p.207).
Palau records a similar title published the same year in Sucre, but containing a
different pagination.
PALAU 183510 (variant). Tim Marr, “Language ideology, ownership and maintenance: the discourse
of the Academia Mayor de la Lengua Quechua” in Opportunities and Challenges of Bilingualism (Berlin &
New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2002), pp.199-219.
$1000.
124. [Moxo y de Francoli, Benito Maria]: CARTAS MEJICANAS ESCRITAS POR D. BENITO MARIA DE MOXO AÑO DE 1805. Genova:
Luis Pellas, [1839]. [6],415,[1]pp. plus five plates. Extra engraved titlepage.
Contemporary half calf and marbled boards, gilt-stamped spine. Internally
bright and clean. Very good.
Self-styled second edition. A history of Mexico, with much on Mexican Indians,
their customs and practices, in a series of letters. “By the prologue to this work we
learn, that its author, a native of Cervera, died young, immediately after a revolution (in South America), in which this work came near being buried in ‘eternal
oblivion’: – that it was brought to Europe and printed, but so hastily, that it could
hardly be read for the many typographical errors with which it was stained. In
consequence of which, it was thought proper to prepare the present edition, which
is indeed, handsomely, but not very correctly printed” – Sabin. Rare. OCLC
locates only one copy.
SABIN 51213. PALAU 183811. RICH II:332. OCLC 35701757.
$675.
125. [Nahuatl Language]: EL EVANGELIO DE S. LUCAS, DEL LATIN
AL MEXICANO O MEJOR NAHUATL. London. 1833. [2],139pp.
12mo. Contemporary cloth, manuscript paper label. Label slightly chipped.
Cloth lightly rubbed. Bookplates on front and rear pastedowns. Later ownership inscription on front fly leaf. Internally clean. Very good plus.
The Gospel of Luke translated from the Vulgate by Mariano Paz y Sanchez into
the Nahuatl language. Nahuatl was the language of the Aztecs. With the bookplate of J.M Andrade, one of the greatest collectors of Mexican books in the 19th
century. A nice copy.
AYER, NAHUATL 25. PILLING, PROOF-SHEETS 1242.
$675.
Striking Watercolors of Mexico by Nebel
126. [Nebel, Carl]: [SUITE OF FOUR HIGHLY ACCOMPLISHED
WATERCOLORS, PRODUCED BETWEEN 1829 AND 1834,
WHICH SERVED AS THE MODELS FOR FOUR LITHOGRAPHS PUBLISHED IN CARL NEBEL’S VOYAGE PITTORESQUE ET ARCHÉOLOGIE, DANS LA PARTIE LA PLUS INTÉRESSANTE DU MEXIQUE]. Mexico. [nd, but 1829-1834]. Four
watercolors on paper. Watercolors of various sizes, as indicated below; each
mounted on card stock, archivally matted (19 x 23 inches) and protected with
a mylar sheet. Contemporary pencil inscriptions in bottom right corners. A
few extremely minor clean tears in a few corners repaired. Watercolors very
clean, colors bright and fresh. The set in near fine condition.
A marvellous suite of four highly accomplished watercolors which served as the
models for four lithographs published in Carl Nebel’s Voyage Pittoresque et Archéologie,
dans la Partie la Plus Intéressante du Mexique. The watercolors all depict native and
mestizo inhabitants situated in dry landscapes with hills in the background. The
images represent a variety of local types and occupations, including Indian women,
men, and children; adult mestizos; coal miners; mule skinners; and fruit vendors.
The costumes are portrayed with much attention to detail, particularly the embroidered clothing worn by the native women and the male laborers’ costumes; and the
foregrounds and background are finely rendered with light washes.
A German architect and painter, Nebel travelled to Mexico in 1829 “to paint
scenes of a country he knew from the writings of Humboldt, Antonio León y Gama,
Bernal Díaz del Castillo, and Hernán Cortés. He remained in Mexico until 1834,
visiting and painting the cities of Puebla, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Guadalajara,
Veracruz, Jalapa, Mexico, and San Luis Potosí. He returned to Europe and in
Paris prepared his memorable Voyage Pittoresque et Archéologie with its fifty plates”
(Howgego). The university trained artist “was drawn there at first by an interest
in the archaeological remnants of the Aztec empire, but became a visual chronicler
of modern Mexico as well. Nebel was one of many European artists intrigued by
the landscape and peoples of the former Spanish empire in the Americas, barred
from view for centuries, but from the 1820s onward open to both travel and investment, and of particular interest to the French and English. His book combines a
taste for the picturesque with a clear-eyed evaluation of the country and its assets”
(Miles and Reese).
Nebel’s Voyage Pittoresque was first published in Paris in 1836 with fifty lithographic plates, twenty of which were issued in color. A Spanish translation of the
work, utilizing the same plates, was published in Paris and Mexico three years later
(but with nearly all the plates in the later edition handcolored or tinted). Of the
twenty color lithographs in the 1836 edition, ten specifically portray local inhabitants of various classes; six of these are of natives or working-class mestizos. The
present watercolors consists of four of these six images, including two of the three
illustrations of Indians published in the Voyage. Comparison of these watercolors and
the published images are instructive in regards to the lithographer’s art and craft.
The individuals in all of the lithographs are darker than in the original artwork,
lending weight to the figures and providing both the natives and mestizos with
darker skin than originally portrayed. Certain details, such as elements of costumes
and architectural motifs, are highlighted or expanded in the published images,
while other visual elements in the foreground and background of the lithographs
are given less emphasis than in the original. Such changes between the original
watercolors and the printed images highlight the technical and aesthetic concerns
of the lithographer and publisher in creating reproduced images for the market.
The four individual watercolors in this suite, with titles transcribed from the
original pencil inscriptions and compared to the titles in the 1836 edition, are
described as follow:
1) “Indios carboneros y la moradora de la vecinidad de Mexico.” 11 x 15 inches. The
lithograph of this image is entitled “Indios carboneros y la buradores de la vecin
dad de Mexico,” while the accompanying printed text reads: “Indios carboneros y
laburadores de le vecindad de Mexico.” Two Indian coal miners, one carrying a
large wooden crate on his back which is secured by a head-brace, with an Indian
woman carrying a child. The figures are accompanied by a mule transporting
large wooden crates containing fruit. One of the men wears a handsome cloak
of animal skins.
2) “Indios de la Sierra al S E de Mexico.” 11 x 15 inches. This image is entitled
“Indias de la Sierra al S.E. de Mexico” on the lithograph and in the printed text.
Four Indian women in native costume, one holding flowers and accompanied
by a young boy. All four women are wearing embroidered native clothing. Two
of the women also have folded white cloths on their heads, while the one with
the young boy wears an embroidered scarf as a hat. One woman, with her back
to the viewer, is portrayed with red and blue cloth woven into her long braids.
3) “Gente de Sierra Lahonte entre Pahanlba y Misaubla.” 9¾ x 13 inches. The lithograph is entitled “Gente de Tierra Caliente entre Papantla y Misantla,” while the
accompanying text reads: “Gente de la costa entre Papantla y Misantla.” Two
Mexican men, one offering or selling fruit to the other man sitting on horseback,
and one Mexican woman carrying two pots on her head. The woman is standing
in a classical pose, which is emphasized by the geometric motif decorating the
bottom of her clothing. A local building with a straw roof and a larger stone
structure, perhaps a church, is seen in the background.
4) “Arrieros.” 11¾ x 16 inches. The lithograph has the same title, the published
text with the variant spelling, “Arieros.” Three Mexican mule skinners working
to coax an overloaded mule back on its feet. The man on the left, leading the
animal with a rope, is dressed in a full poncho. The other two men, one riding
a horse and brandishing a whip, are pushing and driving the mule from the rear.
In the background, one other horse and three other mules with loads are seen.
In the published image the mule’s load is considerably darker and looks even
heavier than in this watercolor. The three men are also portrayed with darker
skin than seen in this image.
Nebel’s renown as an illustrator working in Mexico was later confirmed with the
publication of George Wilkins Kendall’s The War Between the United States and
Mexico Illustrated. This account of the Mexican-American War, published in 1851,
included twelve handcolored lithographic plates based on Nebel’s paintings of major
battles of the war. These dozen images became the source for numerous prints
by other artists, who copied and adapted Nebel’s illustrations of various conflicts.
In a similar manner, many of Nebel’s earlier illustrations in his Voyage Pittoresque
were also reproduced and modified by the artist himself as well as other printers
and publishers. These included topographic views found in numerous works on
the Mexican-American War as well as his depictions of local inhabitants. “Nebel’s
[Voyage] was a classic. It was published in both French and Spanish editions, and
several of the fifty illustrations, many of them of the costumbrista or costume-picture
genre, were widely copied” – Eyewitness to War.
A marvelous group of watercolors which served as the basis for four lithographs
in Carl Nebel’s landmark illustrated account of his travels in Mexico.
HOWGEGO 1800-1850, N4. MILES & REESE, AMERICA PICTURED TO THE LIFE 19 (Voyage, 1836). Tyler, The Mexican War, a Lithographic Record, p.18 and passim. M.A. Sandweiss, R. Stewart,
& B.W. Huseman, Eyewitness to War: Prints and Daguerreotypes of the Mexican War, 1846-1848, pp.7, 13,
110, 127, 206, and passim.
$67,500.
127. [New Grenada Canal and Steam Navigation Company]: REMARKS
ON THE CANAL OR “DIQUE” OF CARTHAGENA, NEW
GRANADA AND ITS NAVIGATION BY STEAM. New York. 1855.
75pp. plus two folding maps. Modern three-quarter morocco over marbled
boards, spine gilt. Light scattered foxing. Small repaired closed tear to one of
the folding maps. Very good.
This scarce promotional publication was an attempt to solicit investment and settlement in modern-day Colombia. Includes details on a proposed canal to be built by
the company as well as natural resources and geography of the area, etc. The two
large folding maps, “Map of the Canal of the Dique, New Granada S.A.” and “A
Chart of the River Magdalena,” are detailed and in fine condition.
SABIN 69441.
$1250.
128. Ortega y Pimentel, Isidro Joseph: FUNEBRE POMPA, MAGNIFI-
CAS EXEQUIAS, QUE A LA JUSTA MEMORIA DEL ILLMO.
SEÑOR DOCT. D. JUAN DE CASTANEDA VELAZQUEZ Y SALAZAR.... Lima: Oficina nueva de la Calle de la Coca, 1763. [38],41[i.e.
45],[15],[31]pp. plus two plates (one folding). Small quarto. Contemporary
vellum with remnants of pigskin ties, lettered on spine. Light ex-lib. stamp
on titlepage. Light scattered foxing, a few leaves lightly and evenly tanned.
Some slight worming, affecting a few lines of text, most serious in latter half
of volume. About good.
Funerary work for Juan de Castaneda Velazquez y Salazar, who was named Bishop of
Panama in 1743, then later transferred to Cuzco, Peru, where he died in 1762. His
funeral was held in the cathedral in Lima. The Oracion Funebre by Juan Prudencio
de Osorio y Balcon is included here, as indicated by Medina, as is the exceedingly
rare plate of the Catafalque of Bishop Castaneda. Only six copies on OCLC.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1208. VARGAS UGARTE 1887. PALAU 204279. SABIN 57676. $3750.
With Remarkable Woodcuts of Churches
129. Ovalle, Alonso de: HISTORICA RELATIONE DEL REGNO DI
CILE, E DELLE MISSIONI, E MINISTERII CHE ESERCITA IN
QUELLE LA COMPAGNIA DI GIESU. Rome: Francesco Cavalli, 1646.
[8],378,[2],12,6pp. plus fourteen engraved plates and large folding engraved
map. The final 18 pages consist entirely of woodcut illustrations. Quarto. Later
19th-century morocco, spine gilt, a.e.g. Covers and spine slightly scratched,
hinges rubbed. Titlepage soiled, repaired, and cracked near gutter. Some scattered light browning throughout. A very good copy.
The first Italian edition, translated from the Spanish edition also printed in Rome
in 1646. One of the most important early histories of Chile, written by a Jesuit
who spent much of his career there. Ovalle provides a description of the geography and natural history of the province of Chile, including Tierra del Fuego, and
describes the native populations who inhabited the region. In particular, this work
is a highly important source for the study of the Araucanian Indians, as it deals
at length with their social structure, political organization, diet, and domestic life.
Ovalle also discusses the early contact period between the Spanish and Indians,
the ensuing conflicts, the Spanish settlement, the advent of Catholic missionaries,
proselytization and conversion, the role of the Society of Jesus, miracles and apparitions of the Virgin, and numerous other topics.
Complementing Ovalle’s history is a wealth of visual images. In the text are
fourteen engravings showing Indian customs, Catholic religious imagery, and a map
of the city of Santiago. The woodcuts illustrate Jesuit establishments throughout
Chile, a map of the Chiloe archipelago, and unusual bird’s-eye woodcut views of
harbors along the coast. The engraved map, “Tabula Geographica Regni Chile,” is
of the entire region discussed in the book. The importance of the text, combined
with the illustrations, make this volume one of great appeal and historical interest.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 646/113. JCB (3)II:346. SABIN 57971. DeBACKER-SOMMERVO-
$9000.
GEL VI:60. PALAU 207399.
130. Oviedo y Herrera, Luis Antonio de: VIDA DE STA. ROSA DE
SANTA MARIA, NATURAL DE LIMA, Y PATRONA DEL PERU.
POEMA HEROYCO. Madrid. 1711 [i.e. 1712]. [80],484pp. plus one plate.
Small quarto. Contemporary limp vellum, lettered on spine. Some light dampstaining. Very good. In a marbled paper slipcase .
Heroic poem detailing the life of Saint Rose of Lima (1586-1617), the first Catholic
saint of the Americas. Rose was born in Lima as Isabel Flores de Oliva. She was
canonized in 1671 by Pope Clement X, the first saint from the Western Hemisphere.
European Americana records a date of 1712, as the Licencia on leaf 17 has a date of
January 6, 1712. The engraved plate shows Saint Rose in her position as patron
saint of Peru. Only a handful of copies on OCLC.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 712/166. PALAU 207753. SABIN 58003. MEDINA (BHA) 2170.
$3500.
OCLC 3420933, 83125585.
The Second Edition of Oviedo
131. Oviedo y Valdes, Gonzalo Fernandez de: CORONICA DE LAS
INDIAS. LA HYSTORIA GENERAL DE LAS INDIAS AGORA
NEUVAMENTE IMPRESSA, CORREGINDA Y EMENDADA.
Salamanca. 1547. [4,192,23] leaves. Folio. Modern brown blindstamped goatskin in contemporary style by Middleton, remnants of green cloth ties. Top
portion of titlepage reinforced. Some minor soiling and worming. A few leaves
trimmed closely, affecting headlines. Faint dampstains in some upper margins;
dampstaining to corners at end of first work. Title-leaf reinforced with old
paper on top verso. Small hole in leaf lxxi with loss to a few letters. Xeréz
with leaf xvii in facsimile; title-leaf with dark stain on recto and verso, and
with some possible facsimile. About very good.
The second edition of Oviedo’s classic work, after the first of 1535, printing all
nineteen books of the work published there, and adding Xerez’s Conquista de Peru,
originally published in Seville in 1534. The latter is assigned a separate number
by Harrisse, and has a separate titlepage, but the two are usually found together.
The Oviedo, a rare second edition, is an invaluable history of the New World and
an essential Americanum despite its intrinsic pro-Spanish bias. Oviedo, courtier
and eventually official historiographer to the Spanish court, is considered the “dean
of the Spanish historians of the discovery and conquest of the Indies” ( J. B. de
Avalle-Arce, “Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés: Chronicler of the Indies,”
in P. Galloway, ed., The Hernando De Soto Expedition, 2005, p.369).
One of the first books to describe the pineapple (and containing the first illustration of that fruit), hammocks, and tobacco, and other New World flora and
fauna, Oviedo’s history relates the voyages of Columbus, the later history of Santo
Domingo, and the exploration of the Yucatan, and contains important descriptions
of the natural history of the Americas. The somewhat schematic woodcuts include
a scene of natives panning for gold, various American plants including several cacti
and other exotic fruits, and a crocodile. Oviedo spent thirty-four years in Central
America and the Caribbean from 1514, and from 1523 he was historiographer of
the Indies, which gave him special access to documents in Spain for research. He
also witnessed the departure of Mendoza’s expedition from Seville in 1534. Xeréz’s
history of the conquest of Peru was written at the request of Pizarro, to whom
Xerez was secretary.
The importance of Oviedo cannot be overstressed; it is one of the basic documents of the very early history of the New World, and one of the bases for all later
history. A rare copy of these two important works, often found bound together;
only two copies have appeared at auction in the last thirty years.
HARRISSE 277, 278. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 547/15, 543/17. SABIN 57989, 105723. JCB
I:150-52. MEDINA (BHA) 131, 130. ARENTS I:209, 4a.
$27,500.
The First Great Chronicle of the New World
by One Who Was There
132. Oviedo y Valdes, Gonzalo Hernandez de: LA HISTORIA GENERAL DE LAS INDIAS. Seville: Juan Cromberger, 1535. 197 leaves as
follow: title-leaf, folios 1-7, folios +1-3, folios 8-193. 6 leaves are in excellent facsimile on old paper (title; ff. 10, 178, 185, 192, 193), 2 leaves have
extensive facsimile work (ff. +2 and 191), and one leaf has minor facsimile
work (ff. 1). Three other leaves have marginal repairs with minor loss (ff. 27,
183, 190). None of the woodcuts of New World subjects are affected by these
facsimiles or repairs. An expertly restored copy in old vellum, leather label.
Despite the work detailed above, a clean, solid, substantially intact copy of a
very rare book.
This famous work is the most extensive book on the New World written up to the
time of publication, and is one of the chief sources to this day for many of the facts
relating to the early history of the Spanish conquest of the New World. Oviedo was
a witness to that history from the beginning, having seen, as a young page at the
Spanish court, the return of Columbus in 1493. In 1505 he went out to the Indies
himself as an official, and subsequently served in a number of important administrative posts. Over the next three decades he kept extensive notes on the history of
the Spanish in the New World and all he observed there, especially natural history
and the Indians he encountered. He also interviewed all of the Spanish explorers
to whom he had access. In 1526 he published a short work on the natural history
of the Indies, followed nine years later by the present work. His industry provides
an extraordinary description of the period, one that his high offices and education
gave him a unique ability to record.
Oviedo’s work is illustrated with numerous woodcuts, which are the earliest
extant reliable pictures of things in the New World. These include a number of
botanical subjects including prickly pear, as well as artifacts including the hammock, and natives, the most famous of which depicts an Indian panning for gold.
The first edition of Oviedo’s book publishes the first nineteen parts of his history.
The twentieth part appeared as a part of Ramusio’s Delle Navigationi et Viaggi in
1551, and the remaining thirty were not published until 1851. This first edition is
one of the outstanding early books on the New World, a foundation work regarding
the period of the initial Spanish conquest.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 535/12. HARRISSE BAV 207. CHURCH 71. ARENTS, TOBACCO
4. MEDINA (BHA) 4. NISSEN ZOOLOGY 3032. JCB (3)I:118. CREATING AMERICA, YALE
EXHIBITION 10. SERVIES, p.1.
$18,500.
Key English Work on the Amazon
133. Pagan, Count Blaise François de: Hamilton, William, trans: AN HIS-
TORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE
GREAT COUNTRY & RIVER OF THE AMAZONES IN AMERICA. DRAWN OUT OF DIVERS AUTHORS, AND REDUCED
INTO A BETTER FORME; WITH A MAPP OF THE RIVER,
AND OF ITS PROVINCES, BEING THAT PLACE WHICH
SR. WALTER RAWLEIGH INTENDED TO CONQUER AND
PLANT, WHEN HE MADE HIS VOYAGE TO GUIANA. London:
John Starkey, 1661. [xxx],153,[1],[6]pp. plus folding map. 12mo. Attractive
unrestored contemporary mottled calf. Slightly worn at extremities. Very good.
First English edition. In the dedication of the original French edition Pagan calls on
Cardinal Mazarin to “take possession of the Amazon and establish several colonies.
He proves that it would not be a difficult enterprise, and large armies and many
pieces of artillery would not be necessary. The map drawn by Pagan is of great
importance as a proof of the French ambitions in the Amazon regions...” (Borba de
Moraes). However, in the English edition at hand, translator William Hamilton
urges the King of England to take the same action in his “Epistle Dedicatory.” It
is accompanied by the same map as found in the first edition. “This translation is
rare...” – Borba de Moraes.
BORBA DE MORAES, p.646.
$10,000.
Superb Lithographs Made in Buenos Aires
134. Pallière, León: ALBUM PALLIERE ESCENAS AMERICANAS
REDUCCION DE CUADROS, AQUARELLES, Y BOSQUEJOS.
Buenos Aires: En venta en la casa de los S[eño]res Fusoni H[erna]nos, [1864].
Lithographed titlepage plus fifty-two lithographed plates (nearly all tinted).
Oblong folio. 20th-century half maroon morocco over red pebbled cloth
boards, boards and spine gilt. Slight dampstaining and foxing on some plates,
primarily in margins. A very good copy.
A very rare album of fifty-two South American scenes, originally drawn by León
Pallière and finely printed as lithographic plates in Buenos Aires by J. Pelvilain.
The plates include views and portraits of local inhabitants in Argentina (44), Brazil
(4), Uruguay (2), Chile (1), and Bolivia (1). Pallière, born in Rio de Janeiro in 1823
to French parents, travelled to France as a young child and eventually studied art
there under F.E. Picot. He continued his artistic training both in South America
between 1848 and 1850 and in Europe between 1850 and 1855. He then returned
to South America, travelling for the next decade in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay,
Chile, and Bolivia, and producing the images found in this volume.
The views consist primarily of rural scenes, and many of these images portray
local inhabitants in a variety of activities. These illustrations and the other images
of the native and mestizo population represent a variety of local types and occupations including Indians; rural and urban mestizo laborers (including a milk man and
a bread seller); middle and upper class women in a theatre gallery and in church;
working men in pulperias; black men and women at a market in Bahia; gauchos;
soldiers (apparently rural conscripts); and even a surveyor in the countryside. A
number of the lithographs focus on life in the country: on the plains, in camp, and
at home. One such image, of a couple standing outside a straw house, includes a
ten-line romantic poem by R. Gutierrez.
A marvelous album, extremely rare, no copies on OCLC.
PALAU 211114. BORBA DE MORAES, p.648.
$25,000.
The Route to California Through Panama
135. [Panama]: [Gold Rush]: EMBARKATION PLACE AT GORGONA,
RIVER CHAGRES 1847. [Panama]. 1847. Pen-and-ink and watercolor on
card, mounted to a larger sheet at a contemporary date, captioned in ink on
the larger sheet below the image. Image size (including text): 6¾ x 9¼ inches.
Sheet size: 14½ x 21 inches. Very good.
This scene on the Chagres River, in 1847, precedes by a year the wave of travellers
who passed by here en route to California in 1848 and 1849. The Panama route
was probably the single most used route to California at the height of the Gold
Rush, and travellers paid huge prices for the services of the small boats, shown in
this watercolor, which took them upriver until they finished crossing the Isthmus
by mule. The Chagres route was the quickest way to California, but the malarial
swamps, also shown here, made it the most dangerous path to the gold fields.
$1500.
An Interesting Panama Imprint
136. [Panama – Watermelon War]: Corwine, Amos B. [et al]: THE PAN-
AMA MASSACRE. A COLLECTION OF THE PRINCIPAL EVIDENCE AND OTHER DOCUMENTS, INCLUDING THE REPORT OF AMOS B. CORWINE, Esq., U.S. COMMISSIONER,
THE OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF THE GOVERNOR AND THE
DEPOSITIONS TAKEN BEFORE THE AUTHORITIES, RELATIVE TO THE MASSACRE OF AMERICAN CITIZENS AT THE
PANAMA RAILROAD STATION, ON THE 15th OF APRIL, 1856.
Panama, New Granada: Printed for Private Circulation...Printed at the Office
of the Star and Herald, 1857. Extra-illustrated with a loosely inserted 4pp.
related autograph letter from Corwine. Quarto. Original yellow thin paper
wrappers, the upper cover with a faint but legible impression taken from the
same setting of type used to print the titlepage. In a brown morocco-backed
cloth box. Provenance: Butler (early signature on upper wrapper).
A very rare pamphlet printed in Panama, the official American report on the 1856
Watermelon Massacre.
Amos B. Corwine was appointed “United States Special Commissioner relative
to the Massacre of American Citizens at the Panama Railroad Station” in the immediate aftermath of what was known as the Watermelon War, a riot in Panama
City on April 15, 1857 in which seventeen people died. The incident was sparked
by a drunken American named Jack Oliver who refused to pay a Panamanian vendor for a slice of watermelon. The vendor pulled a knife, Oliver pulled a gun, a
struggle involving a bystander ensued, and violence against the Americans in port
escalated. The official tally at the time reported fifteen American dead and sixteen
wounded. There were two Panamanians dead and thirteen wounded. Underlying
this incident were class and racial tensions between local citizens and Americans,
with roots to the latter displacing the local population from employment in the
building of a transcontinental railroad.
This very rare, privately printed pamphlet starts with a twenty-one-page publication of Corwine’s official report dated July 18, 1856. Corwine’s first four
conclusions all relate directly to the events of the day, but with the fifth he goes
a stage further, declaring that the “Government of New Granada [i.e. Panama] is
unable to enforce order and afford adequate protection to the transit....I feel it a
duty incumbent on me to recommend the immediate occupation of the Isthmus,
from Ocean to Ocean, by the United States, unless New Granada...can satisfy us
as to her ability and inclination to afford proper protection and make speedy and
ample atonement.” This is followed by forty-nine pages of “Documents relative
to the events” (i.e. reprints of the various sworn depositions taken from witnesses
and participants from both sides of the conflict).
This copy is extra-illustrated with a fine autograph letter signed by the author,
from Panama while investigating the incident. The interesting and lengthy letter,
addressed to “My Dear Capt.[ain],” is dated June 27, 1857, before the publication of his official report. In the letter Corwine acknowledges the receipt of the
Captain’s letter, commenting that he hoped that the ex-commercial agent for the
United States in Samoa, Aaron Van Camp, would not be able to find any other
appointments; sympathizing with ex-U.S. Consul in Samoa, James S. Jenkins, who
had recently been arrested on the steps of the State Department in Washington on
charges of piracy (filed by Van Camp and connected to Jenkins’ actions when in
Apia in Samoa). The main body of the letter contains the author’s speculations that
William Ruschenberger was the author of a letter that had recently been published
in the National Intelligencer, a letter which “to a certain extent took the native side
of the controversy respecting” the Panama Massacre. Corwine concludes by asking
the help of the correspondent over a share deal that Corwine had entered into with
Commodore William Mervine.
The pamphlet is quite rare. No copies are cited on OCLC and no other copies
appear in the auction records for the last thirty-five years.
SABIN 16986, 58408. EBERSTADT 165:658.
$5750.
South American Utopian Fiction
137. Payne, A.R. Middletoun: THE GERAL-MILCO; OR, THE NAR-
RATIVE OF A RESIDENCE IN A BRAZILIAN VALLEY OF THE
SIERRA-PARICIS. New York. 1852. [4],264pp. plus four plates. Original
brown publisher’s cloth, stamped in blind and gilt. Worn at extremities, corners
bumped, head and foot of spine frayed, front hinge tender. Faint old library
stamp on titlepage. Minor soiling else. Good.
Presented as a travel narrative, this work tells the story of the author’s trip to the
jungles of Brazil, where he encounters a utopian society of Incan Indians. Illustrated
with three drawings and a map of the area. In addition to the narrative itself, the
author has included chapters on the structure of the society and the manners and
customs of the inhabitants. An 1854 edition of this work was entitled Rambles in
Brazil. Rather scarce; no copies in auction records for the past thirty years.
SABIN 59278. SARGENT, p.25.
$650.
138. Paz Soldan, Mariano Felipe: ATLAS GEOGRAFICO DEL PERU.
Paris. 1865. [2]pp. Sixty-eight plates, including forty-one maps and plans,
many colored or tinted. Lacks four or six plates (see note below) and the entirety of the accompanying text (81pp.). Large folio. Contemporary half calf
and red boards, spine gilt. Slight worming to imprint on titlepage; publication
date effaced. Moderate to heavy foxing to three of the plates, but generally
quite clean. Very good.
This magnificent atlas by Peru’s most eminent 19th-century historian contains
numerous maps, city plans, views, groups, scenery, etc. The author obviously drew
inspiration from Humboldt’s grand works on America; many of the plates were
made after daguerreotypes. Mariano Felipe Paz Soldan (1821-86) was a Peruvian
historian and geographer. He was born at Arequipa, Peru, and one of the stunning
plates in the Atlas is a large folding view of that city. Phillips calls for seventy-two
plates, while Palau calls for seventy-four; copies on OCLC are listed with seventytwo, seventy-three, and seventy-four plates.
PALAU 215886. PHILLIPS ATLASES 2769. SABIN 59325.
$3000.
139. Peralta Barnuevo, Pedro de: JUBILOS DE LIMA Y FIESTAS RE-
ALES, QUE HIZO ESTA MUY NOBLE Y LEAL CIUDAD, CAPITAL Y EMPORIO DE LA AMERICA AUSTRAL, EN CELEBRACION DE LOS AUGUSTOS CASAMIENTOS DEL SERENISSIMO SENOR DON LUIS FERNANDO.... Lima: Imprenta de la Calle
de Palacio por Ignacio de Luna y Bohorques, 1723. [170]pp. Small quarto.
Dbd. Ink stamp and ownership inscription on titlepage. Light soiling and
worming to first few pages, minutely affecting text, else generally quite clean.
Very good.
Description of the celebrations in Lima for the marriages of Louis I, King of Spain,
and Louis XV, King of France, who married the Infanta Mariana Victoria. Only
one copy on OCLC, at Yale University.
PALAU 218084. MEDINA (LIMA) 801. OCLC 54156090.
$3250.
140. Peralta Barnuevo, Pedro de: PASSION Y TRIUMPHO DE CHRISTO. DIVIDIDA EN DIEZ ORACIONES, QUE COMIENZAN
DESDE EL MYSTERIO DE LA ORACION DEL HUERTO HASTA EL DE LA ASCENSION DEL SENOR. Lima: Imprenta que esta
extra muros de Santa Cathalina, 1738. [108],326pp. with numerous errors in
pagination. Small quarto. Modern orange calf, spine gilt. Ink stamp on front
fly leaf. Light dampstaining. Very good.
First edition of this important work by Pedro Peralta y Barnuevo, the Peruvian
writer and humanist. Peralta was one of the great erudites of the colonial time; he
was also a noted mathematician and astronomer, his work having been embraced
in Europe and celebrated by learned sectors. His most important works are this
Passion... and Historia de Espana Vindicada, Lima Fundada, a history of Peru from
Pizarro to the early 18th century. Only six copies on OCLC.
MEDINA (LIMA) 916. VARGAS UGARTE 1457. PALAU 218091. OCLC 4072816, 54135440.
$4200.
141. Peralta, Juan de: LAS TRES JORNADAS DEL CIELO. VIA PUR-
GATIVA, ILUMINATIVA, I UNITIVA. SIGNIFICADAS EN GEMIDOS, DESEOS, I SUSPIROS. ORDENADAS EN METRICA
CONSONANCIA, PARA MAS SUAVE ARMONIA AL CORAZON. Lima: Imprenta de la Plazuela de San Christoval, 1749. [17], xxx
leaves, 56,60-171pp. Contemporary vellum with pigskin ties, lettered on spine.
Some light soiling, minor scattered foxing. Very good.
Devotional poetry written by Juan de Peralta (1663-1747), a Franciscan friar born
in Lima. Only six copies on OCLC.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1013. VARGAS UGARTE 1603. PALAU 218030.
$2300.
Church Disputes in New Spain
142. [Perea Quintanilla, Miguel de]: MANIFIESTO A LA REYNA N.
SEÑORA EN SU REAL CONSEJO DE LAS INDIAS; EN MANO
DE SV EXCELENTISSIMO PRESIDENTE. EN QUE SE HAZE
NOTORIO EL CONTINVO, Y ESTRAÑO MOVIMIENTO QUE
HA PADECIDO, Y PADECE ESTE NUEVO MUNDO, Y PROVINCIAS DE LA NUEVA ESPAÑA, DESDE EL DIA EN QUE TOMÒ
POSSESION DE EL OFICIO DE COMISSARIO GENERAL DE
LA SERAPHICA FAMILIA DE ESTOS REYNOS, FRAY HERNANDO DE LA RUA. PROPVESTO POR EL PROMOTOR FISCAL DESTE ARZOBISPADO DE MEXICO.... [Mexico. 1672]. [136]
pp. (68 leaves). In Spanish. Ornamental border on titlepage and decorative
initial on first page of text. Folio. Dbd. Very minor marginal worming, affecting an occasional character of text, else near fine.
A rare Mexican imprint documenting the ongoing conflict between the mendicant
orders and episcopal authorities in New Spain. Beginning with the arrival of twelve
friars minor to Mexico in 1524, three years after the conquest, the Franciscan order
was responsible for the first great wave of Indian conversions in New Spain and
remained the dominant missionary force there for well over a century. By the time
of the ascension of Alonso de Montúfar to the archbishopric of New Spain in 1551,
episcopal authorities had already begun to question the methods of the Franciscans
(as well as the Dominicans and Augustinians) and grown anxious over the degree
of their power and influence. For decades the bishops and archbishops fought a
steady campaign to replace friar priests with secular clergy and thereby establish
regular and centralized ecclesiastical authority in the land. In the 1640s a major
battle over authority erupted between the Franciscans and Bishop Juan de Palafox
y Mendoza of Puebla, and deepened with the accession of Diego Osorio y Escobar
to the bishopric of that state, who contended that the Franciscans were acting in
contempt of the throne, the Council of Trent, and his own episcopal rule. In 1666,
Fray Hernando de la Rúa, Commissioner General of the Franciscan order, arrived in
New Spain to support his order, and in 1671 he published three complaints against
the ecclesiastical authorities there. The present document is the detailed polemic
response by the regular church to Fray Hernando’s charges, signed in print by Miguel
de Perea Quintanilla, and followed by a 1671 letter from Commissioner General of
the Indies Fray Antonion de Somosa to Fray Hernando de la Rúa. OCLC lists five
copies, with four in the U.S., at the Graduate School Theological Union, University
of Pennsylvania, University of Texas at Austin, and Yale.
MEDINA (MEXICO) 1973. PALAU 218301.
$2500.
143. [Peru]: [THREE MANUSCRIPT DOCUMENTS REFERRING
TO THE INHERITANCE OF JUAN ABALOS]. [Lima]. 1641-1647.
[5]pp. on three folio sheets, 12 x 8 inches. Some slight chipping at edges;
minor foxing and soiling, heaviest to third sheet. Very good.
Three manuscript documents, written on officially stamped stationery, dealing with
various aspects of the inheritance of Juan Abalos. In the first document, with a
printed header dated 1641, Doña Mayor de Caloes y Bazan, widow of Nicolas de
Abalos, makes claims for the inheritance on behalf of her sons and states that it is
not necessary to evaluate the properties included in the estate because it was already
done. The second document, dated May 4, 1647, is a request by the Presbyter
Capellan Avila for 660 pesos to maintain the chaplaincy founded by Elvira Abalos,
a part of the aforementioned estate. The third and final document has to do with
Juan Abalos’ inheritance, specifically with the chaplaincy, a mulatto slave, etc.
An interesting look into the primary sources on inheritances in early colonial
Lima. $1500.
144. [Peru]: OFFICIA SANCTORUM IN BREVIARIO ROMANO EX
MANDATO SUMMOMORUM PONTIFICUM APPONENDA,
TAM DE PRAECEPTO, QUAM AD LIBITUM RECITANDA....
Lima: Joseph de Contreras, 1687. [2],91 (of 93) leaves. Small quarto. Contemporary limp vellum. Soiling and wear to vellum, spine mostly obliterated.
Titlepage soiled and worn, with some paper loss. Soiling, dampstaining, and
a few tears in text. Fair.
A printing of the Divine Office from the Contreras Press. Geronimo de Contreras
founded his press in 1621. With his son and grandson following in the business,
the Contreras press was the most active printing press in early colonial Peru. Not
in Medina. Only one copy on OCLC, at the John Carter Brown Library (that copy
is a variant printing of that noted by Vargas Ugarte).
VARGAS UGARTE 811. OCLC 79463975.
$2000.
145. [Peru]: EL PARNASO DEL REAL COLEGIO DE SAN MARTIN
POSTRADO A LOS PIES DEL EXCMO. SENOR CONDE DE
LA MONCLAVA, VIRREY, GOVERNADOR, Y CAPITAN GENERAL DE ESTOS REYNOS &c..... Lima: Joseph de Contreras, 1694.
[98] leaves. Lacks leaves C2 and C3. Small quarto. Contemporary limp vellum. Vellum soiled, head of spine and top portion of front cover torn away,
back cover lacking a few small pieces at edges. Bottom corner of first three
leaves torn away. Dampstaining and paper loss to top forecorner of text. Good.
Peruvian poetry from the press of Geronimo de Contreras, which was founded in
1621. With his son and grandson following in the business, the Contreras press
was the most active printing press in early colonial Peru. Not in Medina. Only
two copies on OCLC, at Duke University and the John Carter Brown Library.
VARGAS UGARTE 903. SABIN 61151. OCLC 33263505, 79797054.
$2500.
The Estate of a Spanish General in Peru and Chile Described
146. [Peru]: FUNDACION DE MAIORASGO LOS SENORES DON
LUIS DE SANTA CRUZ Y PADILLA CONDE DE SAN JUAN &
LURIGANCHO Y EL GENL. SR. JOSEPH DE SANTA CRUZ Y
GALLARDO SUHISO SOBRE EL OFICIO DE THESORERO
DE LA CASA DE LA MONEDA Y UNA CHACARA Y TIERRA
EN EL VALLE DE LURIGANCHO Y EL TITULO DE CASTILLA
DE DHO. CONDADO [manuscript title]. [Lima]. 1705. [31] leaves.
[bound with:] [OFFICIAL MANUSCRIPT DOCUMENT, DATED
1782 – 1783]. [34] leaves. Folio. Contemporary limp vellum with remnants
of pigskin ties, lettered on cover. Very minor soiling; some small ink-related
paper loss. Near fine.
This document comprises the petition of Luis de Santa Cruz y Padilla, general of
the Royal Armies in Peru and Chile, and his wife, Julia Fernández Gallardo, for
recognition of the establishment of an entailed estate in primogeniture of their farm
and lands in the Valley of Lurigancho, for the confirmation of their title in Castile,
and of their son as perpetual treasurer of the Royal Mint of Lima as granted by Royal
Order of November 12, 1703. This is followed by a copy of the Royal Provision of
appointment and entailment as perpetual treasurer and inspector, confirmation of
entailed estate of lands in Lurigancho, and of the title, reciting in detail the various
privileges and duties of the treasurer and inspector, given in Madrid, November
12, 1703, with confirmation by the Royal Accountants in Madrid, November 14,
1703. This is continued with the confirmation accompanied by a recital of genealogy, discussion of Santa Cruz lineages, and reiteration of the terms of the Royal
Provision dated and subscribed by notary in Lima, August 3, 1705, and attested to
by witnesses and subscribed by a notary in Lima, March 17, 1735.
The second section is lengthy testimony in Lima on July 10, 1782 by María
Narcisa de Santa Cruz y Centeno, marquise and widow of Moscoso, and Mariana
de Santa Cruz y Centeno, marquise and widow of Otero, reciting lineage in support
of claims in litigation with other claimants to succession in the entailed estate, prior
testimony and claims of numerous heirs to inheritance, orders of monetary distributions, termination of the post of treasurer due to incapacity of the current heir
and renunciation by female descendants, and agreement of the heirs to terminate
the entailed estate, dated February 16, 1782.
Lurigancho is an agricultural region some twenty-five miles to the east of Lima
on the right bank of the Río Rimac. The area was isolated until a road was built
to it through mountainous terrain during the viceroyalty of Manuel de Aman y
Junient (1761-76).
José de Santa Cruz y Gallardo (1661-1743), second Count of San Juan de Lurigancho, was lieutenant governor and tax collector of the province of Yamparaes,
tax collector of Mizque and Pocona, and chief magistrate of the mines of the Royal
District of Charcas. He traveled to Madrid and was received into the Order of
Santiago, appointed Captain General of Chile, and granted the title of Count of
San Juan de Lurigancho for his father in 1694-95. He returned to Lima in 1695,
but his privileges were suspended by Royal Order in 1697, and he returned to
Spain to reclaim them. On December 10, 1702 he was named perpetual treasurer
of the Royal Mint in Lima, established in 1565 by viceroy Lope García de Castro,
a post inherited by his heirs following his death, and he returned to Lima in 1703.
His son, Diego Santa Cruz y Centeno (1707-74), became assistant treasurer of
the mint, and in 1743 he inherited the post of treasurer from his father. In 1754
he was excommunicated, but this was lifted to permit his continuing in his post.
Entailed estates, designed to maintain real property intact over generations and
usually involving primogeniture, deprived other heirs of opportunity to inherit. Initially, this situation was resolved by entry into religious or bureaucratic life, but with
the passage of time and subsequent increase of the number of heirs, these solutions
became impossible. As more heirs of the holder of the entailed estate went from
wealth to poverty on his death, the practice was abolished, and remaining estates
such as this one were dissolved by mutual agreement of the family. $2600.
147. [Peru]: CONSTITUCIONES SYNODALES DEL ARCOBISPA-
DO DE LOS REYES EN EL PERU. HECHAS, Y ORDENADAS
POR EL ILLUSTRISSIMO, Y REVERENDISSIMO SENOR D.
BARTHOLOME LOBO GUERRERO.... Lima: Tercera reimpression
por Juan Joseph Morel, en la Plazuela de San Christoval, 1754. [13],91,[11]
leaves. [bound with:] CONSTITUCIONES SYNODALES DEL AR-
COBISPADO DE LOS REYES EN EL PERU...POR...DOCT. D
FERNANDO ARIAS DE UGARTE.... Lima: Plazuela de San Christoval, 1754. [2],32,[8]pp. [bound with:] ERECTIO SANCTAE ARCHIEPISCOPALIS CIVITATIS REGUM, PERUANARUM.... [Lima].
1754. [102],64,[2]pp. Folio. Later vellum, lettered on spine. Binding waste
endpapers with extensive manuscript notations. Light soiling to titlepage; later
presentation inscription. Lower corner of first four leaves torn away and repaired. Some light dampstaining and minor tanning. Slight worming, minutely
affecting text. About very good.
Reprints of the constitutions of the synods held in Peru in 1613 and 1636. The
synod constitution of 1613 is particularly concerned with the idolatry of the Indians;
due to a change in church leadership, that fixation is notably absent in the synodal
constitution of 1636. All three titles are issued together, as indicated by Medina.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1070. VARGAS UGARTE 1690. PALAU 60291n. SABIN 16071. $4500.
148. [Peru]: MANUAL BREVE PARA EL USO DE LOS RELIGIOSOS
DEL ORDEN DE NUESTRA SENORA DE LA MERCED REDENCION DE CAUTIVOS. [Lima. 1764]. 72pp. plus [4]pp. of manuscript notes. Small quarto. Contemporary limp vellum. Some minor chipping
to spine, old ink stain on rear cover. Some light soiling. About very good.
Liturgical manual for the Mercedarian order in Lima, containing material such
as blessings and absolutions particular to the order, primarily rites associated with
sickness and death. The liturgical prayers are in Latin, with rubrics and notes in
Spanish. Manuscript notes on both fly leaves consist of Latin prayers. Three copies on OCLC, at the Library of Congress, the John Carter Brown Library, and the
National Library of Chile.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1219. VARGAS UGARTE 1901. OCLC 7945859.
$1200.
149. [Peru]: COLECCION DE LAS APLICACIONES QUE SE VAN
HACIENDO DE LOS BIENES, CASAS, Y COLEGIOS QUE
FUERON DE LOS REGULARES DE LA COMPAÑIA DE JESUS,
EXPATRÍADOS DE ESTOS REALES DOMINIOS. Lima: En la
Oficina de la Calle de S. Jacinto, 1772-1773. Two volumes. [56],207,[5]pp.
plus fourteen unpaginated leaves which appear between sections; [158],306,[3]
pp. plus five unpaginated leaves which appear between sections. Small quarto.
Contemporary limp vellum, lettered on spine. Bookplate on front pastedowns.
Several ex-lib. ink stamps on titlepages, one of which has been cut away from
text and the page subsequently backed with paper. Some light foxing. About
very good.
An important collection of documents on the Jesuit order in Peru, which primarily
discusses the dispersal of the Order’s property after their expulsion from America.
The Jesuits were expelled from Peru, as well as other Spanish and Portuguese possessions, in 1767. Also included here are the constitutions of several schools which
were under their provision. Published in two parts, both of which are present here.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1338, 1358. VARGAS UGARTE 2056, 2078.
$5000.
150. [Peru]: JHS. CONSTITUCIONES DE LA CONGREGACION
DEL ORATORIO DE ROMA, FUNDADA POR EL GLORIOSO
S. FELIPE NERI, CON LA BULA DE SU CONFIRMACION.
TODO TRADUCIDO EN LENGUA VULGAR. Reimpreso en Lima.
1795. 160pp. Contemporary vellum. Bright and fresh internally. Near fine.
Constitution of the Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, first founded
in Rome in the late 16th century. No copies on OCLC.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1796. VARGAS UGARTE 2685.
$2550.
151. [Peru]: [FILOSOFE ELEMENTA VOBIS EXPLANATUM (manuscript title)]. [Lima? 1812-1819]. Approximately 100 leaves, written in a
minuscule hand. Small quarto. Contemporary vellum, about half an inch thick.
Very good.
Anonymous seminary copy book of lectures in logic, metaphysics, physics, astronomy,
and psychology given between 1812 and 1819 by Father Felipe de Lescano, based
upon work of Fray Mariano de Urrutia y Artajona. A comment by the writer on
leaf 22 reads: “Me cago en el chuto” [“I shit on the Indian”]; and there is an ink
drawing of the Copernican solar system per Herschel on leaf 65.
Copy books such as this, in a minuscule hand and entirely in Latin, were common
in seminaries throughout Spanish Colonial America, and frequently later placed
in seminary and college libraries where they were used by other students. By their
transitory nature, they were frequently discarded and are not often encountered.
The majority of the text was verbatim copy of an established treatise, taken in dictation from a reader in the subject. The high cost of paper led to the fine script;
and the scarcity and cost of printed books resulted in the taking of dictation that,
secondarily, gave practice in handwriting and Latin to the student.
An interesting insight into educational procedures in Spanish colonial America.
$2000.
152. [Peru]: CHUKRIN [i.e. Churin] PRES DU CERRO DE PASCO.
[Peru. ca. 1850?]. Graphite and pastel on brown paper, captioned on verso.
Sheet size: 8½ x 6¼ inches. Small chips to two corners, else very good.
A scene in one of the Andean passes of Peru, showing the town of Churin, a swiftly
flowing river, and two travellers on horseback. $300.
153. [Peru, New Spain, and New Granada]: EL REY. POR QUANTO
CON EL MOTIVO DE CIERTA COMPETENCIA, SUBSCITADA
ENTRE EL TRIBUNAL DE LA INQUISICION, Y UN ALCALDE
ORDINARIO DE LA CIUDAD DE SANTA FÈ, EN EL NUEVO
REYNO DE GRANADA, PRETENDIENDO AQUEL INHIBIR Á
ESTE DEL CONOCIMIENTO DE LOS AUTOS, QUE ESTABA
SIGUIENDO CONTRA ALBERTO MALDONADO, POR EL
DELITO DE HAVERSE CASADO SEGUNDA VEZ...[caption
title]. [Madrid. 1754]. 2pp. plus one leaf with contemporary inscription on
recto. Folio. Dbd. Sign of the cross printed at head of title. Contemporary
manuscript annotations in ink, later annotations in pencil. Accomplished in
manuscript, with additional manuscript annotations. Manuscript inscription on
blank leaf written on March 20, 1756 in Santiago de Chile. Extremely light
dampstaining on top margin. Very good.
A rare proclamation by Ferdinand VI, King of Spain, who declares that criminals
tried for polygamy are to be prosecuted by both the Tribunal of the Inquisition and
the Royal Magistrates. This particular decree refers to a case against one Alberto
Maldonado, who was tried in the city of Santa Fé in New Granada for the crime
of marrying a second time while his first wife was still alive. The King confirms
that such a crime pertains to both religious and civil jurisdictions, and such acts
are to be prevented by the laws of both realms. This proclamation was to be sent
to the viceroys of Peru, New Spain, and New Granada, as well as governors in
those domains. This copy, accomplished in manuscript in Buen Retiro, Spain on
March 19, 1754, is signed by Joachim Joseph Vazquez y Morales as representative
of the King of Spain with the inscription, “Yo El Rey,” and the annotation, “Por
mand[a]do del Rey.” Five separate manuscript inscriptions on the recto and verso
of the additional leaf, written in Santiago de Chile in June 1755, document the
dissemination of the text to various local authorities.
A rare proclamation concerning criminal proceedings against polygamy in the
New World. Not in Medina BHA, nor on OCLC. $1000.
154. [Peruvian Mining Laws]: REALES ORDENANZAS PARA LA DI-
RECCION, REGIMEN Y GOBIERNO DEL IMPORTANTE CUERPO DE LA MINERIA DE NUEVA-ESPAÑA Y DE SU REAL
TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE ORDEN DE SU MAGESTAD. Lima.
1785 [i.e. 1786]. [2],lix,196pp. [bound with:] REAL ORDEN DE 8 DE
DICIEMBRE DE 1785, Y DECLARACIONES EN SU CUMPIMIENTO HECHAS PARA ADAPTAR LA ORDENANZA DE
MINERIA DE NUEVA-ESPAÑA.... Lima. 1786. [2],51,[5]pp. Folio.
Contemporary vellum, lettered on front cover. Light soiling and warping to
vellum. Light foxing and scattered soiling, primarily at edges of leaves.
The first Lima edition of these royal ordinances governing mining in New Spain. “A
rare and valuable compendium of the old mining laws and mineral customs, printed
only for the use of the parties concerned” – Sabin. The date on the titlepage is
printed as 1785 with a correction in manuscript altering it to read 1786. Though
Vargas Ugarte gives each of these titles a separate number, Medina lists them as
one item and also indicates the manuscript correction of the date on the titlepage.
This edition is not noted by Sabin, though he does record the more common second
edition, printed in the same year.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1635. VARGAS UGARTE 2463, 2464. SABIN 56260 (ref ).
$3000.
155. [Peruvian Periodical]: MERCURIO PERUANO. Lima. 1791-1794.
190 issues, plus two duplicate issues; generally 8 to 16pp. in length. Small
quarto. Five bound volumes, plus twenty-four loose issues. First thirty-four
issues bound in modern red half calf and cloth, the other volumes bound in
contemporary vellum. Light foxing; one volume with some slight worming,
minutely affecting text. Several loose issues heavily dampstained and wormed.
Overall, very good.
The Mercurio Peruano was the most important Peruvian newspaper of the Enlightenment period, created and edited by a group of young intellectuals. The paper
discussed a wide array of topics, ranging from mining to poetry, but was first and
foremost intended to establish an intellectual identity for Peru as a nation. The
first issue was published on January 2, 1791, and the paper subsequently ran on a
semi-weekly basis for 411 issues, until 1795. A significant portion – almost half –
of the periodical’s complete run is represented here, beginning with the very first
issue. Each volume also contains subscribers lists, meteorological observations, and
numerous folding tables. The contents are as follow:
1) First bound volume contains issues for January through April 1791, thirty-four
in all, totaling approximately 316pp., plus numerous folding tables.
2) Eight loose issues, covering the entire month of August 1791.
3) The second bound volume contains issues for September through December 1791,
thirty-five in all, totaling approximately 311pp., plus folding tables.
4) The third bound volume contains issues for January through April 1792, thirtyfive in all, totaling approximately 298pp., plus folding tables. Also includes one
loose duplicate issue for April 22, 1792.
5) Nine loose issues for the summer of 1792: June 10, 21, 28; July 8, 12, 15, 29;
August 2, 5.
6) The fourth bound volume contains issues for January through April 1793, thirtyfour in all, totaling approximately 307pp., plus folding tables. Also includes one
loose duplicate issue for April 28, 1793.
7) The fifth bound volume contains issues from September 15 through December
29, 1793; thirty in all, paginated 30-284pp., plus folding tables.
8) Lastly, five loose issues for 1794: February 9, February 27, March 9, May 25, and
August 24; plus an undated subscribers’ list.
A significant run of this important Peruvian paper.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1744. VARGAS UGARTE 2612.
$4750.
First Book Printed in Three Colors in the Americas
156. [Peruvian Printing]: SYNODO DIOCESANA, QUE CELEBRO
EL ILUSTRISSIMO SENOR DOCTOR DON MANUEL DE ALDAY Y ASPEE, OBISPO DE SANTIAGO DE CHILE.... Lima: en
la Oficina de la Calle de al Encarnacion, 1764. [8],170,[25]; [14],168pp. Half
title. Folio. Later half calf and green boards, spine gilt, all edges stained yellow. Extremities rubbed, corners worn. Moderate dampstaining to half title
and last few leaves; light dampstaining to titlepage and first few leaves. Later
inscription on titlepage. Light to moderate foxing; a few leaves moderately
tanned. Good.
One of the most beautiful pieces of colonial American printing. The two sections
have separate titlepages, the first in red and black, the second in red, green, and
black, and the half title in red and green. The text is within a double black rule,
with wide and graceful margins. This copy is trimmed down a bit due to rebinding,
but still quite nice. All in all, a truly beautiful book, and a marvelous example of
colonial American printing.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1210. VARGAS UGARTE 1891. PALAU 325995, 325996.
$3000.
157. [Pimentel Zúñiga, Domingo, and Juan Chumacero y Carrillo]: ME-
MORIAL DE SV MAJESTAD CATOLICA, QUE DIERON A
NUESTRO MUY SANTO PADRE VRBANO PAPA VIII. D. FRAY
DOMINGO PIMENTEL OBISPO DE COROUA, Y D. IUAN
CHUMAÇERO, Y CARRILLO DE SU CONSEJO, Y CAMARA, Y
LA EMBAJADA, À QUE VINIERON EL AÑO DE 633. INCLUSO
EN EL, OTRO, QUE PRESENTARON LOS REYNOS DE CASTILLA JUNTOS EN CORTES EL AÑO ANTECEDIENTE SOBRE DIFERENTES AGRAUIOS, QUE RECIBEN EN LAS EXPEDICIONES DE ROMA, DE QUE PIDEN REFORMACION
[caption title]. [Madrid. 1633]. 160pp. In Spanish, Italian, and Latin. Ruled
borders. Decorative initials. Ornamental vignette on final page. Folio. Dbd.
Occasional contemporary manuscript marginalia. Minor marginal worming
and dampstaining in final leaves, not affecting text. Very good.
A series of grievances on ecclesiastical matters submitted to Pope Urban VIII
by the newly installed Bishop of Cordova, Domingo Pimentel Zúñiga, and his
counselor, Juan Chamcero y Carrillo, during their embassy to Rome on behalf of
the Spanish clergy in 1633. The Spanish complaints are countered with responses
by Vatican secretary Monsignor Maraldi (presumably Marc’ Antonio Maraldi),
which are printed here and followed in turn by Spanish rebuttals. Much of the
argument concerns proper church recognition for Spain’s disproportionate role in
defending and expanding the Roman Catholic faith. On page 70 the authors offer
an impassioned account of a “New World conquered to the faith” by Spanish arms,
learning, and preaching:
A cuyo titulo ninguna otra Corona puede tener igual razon, para ser ayuda de
la Silla Apostolica con sus rentas; porque de la España es la que mas la sirue,
y defiende à la Iglesia Vniversal con las armas, y con las letras, y predicacion.
Vn nueuo mundo hà conquistado à la fe, siempre continua la promulgacion
del Euangelio en nueuos Reynos, y Prouincias de las Indias Orientales, y Occidentales, consumiendo en esto sus tesoros, y vassallos.
OCLC lists four copies, at Berkeley, University of Illinois, Ohio State University,
and University of Texas at Austin. Very rare.
PALAU 67968.
$1250.
158. Pinto y Quesada, Alfonso: RELACION DE LAS EXEQUIAS DEL
ILL.MO S.OR D.D. DIEGO ANTONIO DE PARADA, ARZOBISPO DE LIMA...IMPRESA CON LA ORACION FUNEBRE
A EXPENSAS DE LOS Ds.D. JOSEPH DE HERRERA, Y D.
ANTONIO CUBERO DIAZ.... Lima: En los Ninos Huerfanos, 1781.
[64],74,[28],87pp. plus engraved portrait and one folding leaf of letterpress.
Small quarto. Later mottled calf, spine gilt, leather label. Rubbed at extremities. First few leaves, including portrait, stained along gutter edge. Blindstamp
on titlepage. Minor scattered foxing. About very good.
Funerary works for Diego Antonio de Parada (1698-1779), Archbishop of Lima.
Most notably, he presided over the inauguration of the newly renovated Cathedral
of Lima in December of 1778. Only a handful of copies on OCLC.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1518. VARGAS UGARTE 2289.
$2900.
With a Handsome Atlas
159. Pissis, Pedro J.A.: GEOGRAFIA FISICA DE LA REPUBLICA DE
CHILE. [Paris]: Instituto Geografico de Paris, 1875. xii,536pp. plus atlas
volume. Original publisher’s red morocco backed cloth, gilt armorial device
on front cover of text and atlas volumes. Text volume back cover heavily
dampstained, corners worn, lacks front fly leaf, old library stamps and ink
inscription on titlepage. Else good. Atlas volume is worn at extremities with
a few spots on front cover, a few leaves reinforced, else very good. A nice atlas
with a rather tattered copy of the text.
The Paris Institute of Geography executed an important geographical survey of
Chile during the 19th century, which is documented in this work. The handsome
plates that make up the atlas include eleven views (three of which are beautifully
colored) and are fine examples of French lithography. One of the colored plates
depicts Mount Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas. Another dramatic
color plate shows the interior of the volcano of Antuco.
PALAU 227450. PHILLIPS ATLASES 5144.
$1500.
Restricting the Printing of Playing Cards in Mexico
160. [Playing Cards]: [Mexico]: DON FELIX MARIA CALLEJA DEL
REY...GOBERNADOR Y CAPITAN GENERAL DE ESTA N.E.,
PRESIDENT DE SU REAL AUDIENCIA...CON EL IMPORTANTE FIN DE EVITAR LAS DUDAS QUE SE HAN TOCADO
ACERCA DE LOS DERECHOS QUE DABAN PAGAR LOS
NAIPES QUE EN VIRTUD...[caption title and beginning of text].
Mexico City. July 18, 1816. Broadside, 12¼ x 8½ inches. Lightly worn around
the edges. Faint stains. Contemporary ink stamps on verso. Good plus.
A rare edict issued by the Felix Maria Calleja del Rey, the Viceroy of New Spain
during the Mexican War of Independence from Spain. This law addresses and
restricts the right to print playing cards in Mexico, and discusses taxes on imported
playing cards. With a manuscript flourish beside Calleja’s printed name, and with
the manuscript signature of another. No copies are located on OCLC. Rare.
$1250.
161. Plumier, Charles: NOVA PLANTARUM AMERICANARUM GENERA. Paris: J. Boudot, 1703. [8],52,[4],21,[1]pp. plus forty engraved plates.
Titlepage vignette. Quarto. Contemporary French mottled calf, spine richly
gilt, raised bands, gilt leather label, a.e.g. Spine rubbed with some gilt flaking,
spine ends expertly repaired. Old stain in upper edge and foredge of text and
plates. Some foxing. A good copy.
An important work of American botany by one of the outstanding early investigators of Caribbean plants. Father Charles Plumier (1646-1704) was a monk of
the order of St. Francesco di Paula. Called “an important botanical traveller” by
Hunt, he was a close friend and associate of the great botanist, Tournefort, before
turning his attention to the Caribbean. He made at least two trips to the French
Antilles and published, in 1693, Description des Plantes de l’Amerique. The present
work is the result of his third American trip overall, when he visited Guadeloupe,
Martinique, and the coast of Brazil. Plumier describes and names 106 new genera
of American plants herein for the first time. The finely detailed engraved plates
depict the palm tree, magnolia, guanabanus, and scores of other tropical fruits and
flowers. After Plumier’s death in 1704, all of his drawings passed to the Cabinet
des Estampes de Roi and served as the basis for the Plantarum Americanarum Fasciculus X (Amsterdam, 1715-60), in which he described hundreds of plants for the
first time, including the Begonia.
HUNT 407. NISSEN 1546. CLEVELAND BOTANICAL COLLECTION 313. SABIN 63457.
PRITZEL 7214. Coats, The Plant Hunters, p.332. TAXONOMIC LITERATURE 8067. EUROPEAN
AMERICANA 703/120. PALAU 229150. JCB (1)III:42. STIFTUNG FUR BOTANIK SALE 607.
$5000.
162. Pointis, Jean-Bernard-Louis: A GENUINE AND PARTICULAR
ACCOUNT OF THE TAKING OF CARTHAGENA BY THE
FRENCH AND BUCCANIERS, IN THE YEAR 1697.... London.
1740. viii,86pp. plus folding plan and 2pp. of ads. 20th-century green cloth,
gilt leather label. Very minor foxing. Very good.
Account of the French attack on Cartagena organized and led by the Baron de
Pointis. The expedition left Brest on January 9, 1697, stopping at Santo Domingo
to pick up Jean Baptiste Ducasse, then governor of Tortuga, and some six hundred
buccaneers. After a ferocious fight the city capitulated to the French buccaneers
on the May 3, and Pointis was able to secure at least $15,000,000 in booty. The
six hundred pirates pillaged and burned the city for three days and Pointis emerged
triumphant. The plan shows Cartagena and the surrounding harbor.
ESTC T113282. SABIN 63704.
$900.
163. Prescott, William H.: HISTORY OF THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1843. Three volumes. Two doublepage maps and a facsimile of Cortés’ signature. Half titles. Portraits. Original
publisher’s green blindstamped cloth, spines gilt. Slightly cocked, else near
fine. With the compliments card of A. Chester Beatty laid in.
The first American edition, second (corrected) printing, of Prescott’s classic work.
In his first contract outside his home city of Boston, Prescott negotiated the publication in New York of 5000 copies of this work. It was published one volume at
a time between December 6th and 21st, just a few months after the first edition
in London.
BAL 16340. GROLIER AMERICAN 100, 51. HILL 1383. SABIN 65262.
$650.
164. Prieto, Alejandro: PROYECTOS SOBRE LA COLONIZACION
DEL ISTMO DE TEHUANTEPEC. Mexico: I. Cumplido, 1884. 126,
[2]pp. plus five lithographic plates. Half title. Original printed wrappers.
Wrappers torn and chipped around the edges. Very clean and neat internally.
Good plus.
A scarce work on the feasibility of colonizing the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in
southern Mexico, issued at the time when the Mexican government was pushing
to build a railroad across the isthmus, which would effectively connect the Atlantic
and Pacific oceans. This area of southern Mexico, measuring less than 200 miles
across, had long been considered a possible location for a trans-oceanic canal. By
the late 19th century those plans had come to naught, and efforts were made to
construct a railroad through the area. The present work is a thorough study of the
Tehuantepec region, its climate, topography, suitability for agriculture, etc. The
lithographs, drawn by Debray, show various places in the region, including the towns
of Las Lomas and La Hacienda de Chivela, and the pass at Masahua. Prieto was
chief engineer for the Mexican national railroad.
PALAU 236962.
$850.
165. Providencia, Josefa de la: RELACION DEL ORÍGEN Y FUNDA-
CION DEL MONASTERIO DEL SEÑOR SAN JOAQUIN DE
RELIGIOSAS NAZARENAS CARMELITAS DESCALZAS DE
ESTA CIUDAD DE LIMA.... Lima. 1793. [22],176,[15]pp. Small quarto.
Contemporary vellum with pigskin closures, lettered on spine. Old ink stamp
on titlepage covered with white out. Minor foxing. Very good.
A history of the Nazarene monastery in Lima, written by a Nazarene nun. Only
six copies on OCLC.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1774. VARGAS UGARTE 3220. PALAU 239266. OCLC 29244312,
$1900.
54253729.
166. Quesada y Sotomayor, Gregorio de: SERMON DE LA PURISSIMA
CONCEPCION DE MARIA PRDICADO [sic] EN SU OCTAVARIO ESTE ANO DE 1696 DIA SEPTIMO EN QUE COSTEO
LA FIESTA AL ILUSTRE TRIBUNAL DEL CONSULADO. Lima:
Joseph de Contreras, 1696. [10],22 leaves. Small quarto. Dbd. Light soiling;
singed along top edge. About very good.
A sermon on the Immaculate Conception, from the press of Geronimo de Contreras,
which was founded in 1621. With his son and grandson following in the business,
the Contreras press was the most active printing press in early colonial Peru. Only
four copies on OCLC, at the University of Arizona, Indiana University, National
Library of Chile, and John Carter Brown Library.
MEDINA (LIMA) 682. VARGAS UGARTE 928. OCLC 45643785.
$2200.
Early Proposal for an Isthmian Canal
167. [Radcliff, William]: CONSIDERATIONS ON THE SUBJECT OF
A COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC OCEANS, BY MEANS OF A SHIP CANAL ACROSS THE
ISTHMUS...By a Citizen of New York. Georgetown, D.C. 1836. 28pp.
plus two folding maps. Dbd. Lightly creased down the center. “56” written in
contemporary ink on the titlepage and crossed out in pencil. Some offsetting
to second map. Very good.
First and only edition of this very early proposal for an isthmian canal by William
Radcliff, the former U.S. consul at Lima. He suggests a sight near the final location
of the present Panama Canal, and pays particular attention to the favorable effect
it would have for the commerce of the west coast of South America. Most of the
early proposals centered on sites further north. The NUC locates seven copies.
AMERICAN IMPRINTS 39844. SABIN 16013.
$675.
Raleigh’s Voyage to Find El Dorado
168. Raleigh, Walter: DISCOVERIE OF THE LARGE, RICH, AND
BEUUTIFUL EMPYRE OF GUIANA, WITH A RELATION OF
THE GREAT AND GOLDEN CITIE OF MANOA (WHICH THE
SPANYARDS CALL EL DORADO) AND OF THE PROVINCES
OF EMERIA, ARROMAIA, AMAPAIA, AND OTHER COUNTRIES; WITH THEIR RIVERS, ADJOYNING. London: Robert
Robinson, 1596. [16],112pp. Small quarto. Full polished calf, leather labels,
by Riviere; spine richly gilt in compartments, gilt inner dentelles, a.e.g. Upper margin of titlepage skillfully extended, with three letters and parts of ten
other letters in almost imperceptible pen facsimile. A few other minor repairs
to blank margins. Else a handsome, near fine copy. With bookplates of Boies
Penrose and another bookplate on the rear free endpaper.
Sir Walter Raleigh, famous Elizabethan courtier and adventurer, was involved in
numerous schemes for establishing English colonies in the New World and in
raiding the Spanish empire in the Americas. In the 1580s he was a major figure
in the English court and in naval and military ventures. But in 1592, Raleigh fell
from grace for marrying one of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting without the Queen’s
approval, and was thrown in the Tower. When released, he had lost much of his
power and influence. He sought to regain it, and make a fortune, by a voyage to
northern South America to seek the legendary city of El Dorado, where he believed
he would find the streets paved in gold.
Raleigh’s voyage, usually called his second (after his voyage to found the first
Virginia colony in 1585) took place under a cloud. He was strictly enjoined from
attacking the Spanish, but on arrival in the Caribbean he attacked Trinidad, seizing
the Spanish governor, and raiding the coast of Venezuela. He then pressed up the
Orinoco River, going more than 400 miles upstream, where he turned back after
obtaining samples of what appeared to be gold. This book details his pioneering exploration, in which he accurately describes the country in the most precise
description made until the mid-19th century. The book also theorizes, at length,
on the chimerical city of El Dorado and its vast wealth, and on the extraordinary
gold ornaments he observed among the Indians of the region. The gold samples,
however, proved to be worthless.
On his return from the El Dorado expedition Raleigh resumed his active place
in the English court, but was accused of treason on the accession of James I and
confined in the Tower until 1616. When released, he made one last attempt at
finding El Dorado, in a disastrous second voyage there which ended in total failure,
and ultimately in Raleigh’s execution.
This is the third issue as identified by European Americana and Church (all were
issued in 1596 and have essentially the same text and setting). This copy contains
the misprint “Gallie” for “Gallego” on page [1], line 22. According to the entry in
Sabin, a copy was offered by a London bookseller in 1885 at £50.
CHURCH 254. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 596/85. SABIN 67554. HILL 1414. JCB (3)I:149.
STC 20636. PALAU 246449-II.
$24,500.
169. [Reyes, Judas Tadeo de]: DESCRIPCION SUMARIA DE LA INC-
LYTA MILICIA DE JESU-CHRISTO, V.O.T. DE PENITENCIA
DEL CHERUBIN DE LA IGLESIA NRO. GLORIOSO P. Y PATRIARCA STO. DOMINGO DE GOZMAN.... Lima: En la Imprenta
Real Calle de Concha, 1783. [10],370 [i.e. 270]pp. Contemporary vellum with
string closures, lettered on spine. Binding beginning to separate from text
block. Very minor foxing. Very good.
A work on the state and foundation of the Dominican order in Santiago, Chile.
Medina indicates that Judas Tadeo de Reyes (1756-1827), who was serving as Secretary to the Presidency of Chile at that time, is the probable author of this work.
Four copies on OCLC, at Yale, University of North Carolina, John Carter Brown
Library, and National Library of Chile.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1544. VARGAS UGARTE 2325. PALAU 70842. MEDINA (HISPANO-
CHILENA) 574. OCLC 47880470, 55237937.
$2000.
170. Rico, Juan: REALES EXEQUIAS QUE POR EL FALLECIMIEN-
TO DEL SEÑOR DON CARLOS III., REY DE ESPAÑA Y DE
LAS INDIAS, MANDO CELEBRAR EN LA CIUDAD DE LIMA,
CAPITAL DEL PERU.... Lima: Imprenta Real de los Ninos Expositos,
1789. [4],169,[2],50pp. Lacks the folding plate. Folio. Contemporary limp
vellum, lettered on spine. Contemporary bookplate on fly leaf. Slight worming
in the margins, not affecting text. Minor soiling. Very good.
First edition of this rare festbuch, published in Lima in honor of the death of Carlos
III. The second work, reflected in the above pagination, comprises Bernardo Rueda’s
funeral oration in the Cathedral. Four copies on OCLC, only two of which are in
North America, at the John Carter Brown Library and Duke University.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1697. VARGAS UGARTE 2546. PALAU 267421.
$2200.
171. Rio, Andrés Manuel del: ELEMENTOS DE ORICTOGNOSIA,
Ó DEL CONOCIMIENTO DE LOS FÓSILES, DISPUESTOS,
SEGUN LOS PRINCIPIOS DE A. G. WÉRNER, PARA EL USO
DEL REAL SEMINARIO DE MINERÍA DE MÉXICO. Mexico.
1795. [2],vi,[28],xl,171,[1]pp. Small quarto. Contemporary vellum. Minor
foxing. Very good.
An important Mexican mineralogical work, also containing accounts of fossils
discovered by the author, who was a professor of mineralogy at the University of
Mexico. The author, Andrés Manuel del Rio (1764-1849), was a Spanish scientist
and naturalist who moved to New Spain in order to teach at the newly opened
College of Mines. In 1795, the year this work was published, he taught the first
course on mineralogy ever to be taught in New Spain. The second part of this
work was published in 1805.
MEDINA (MEXICO) 8505.
$2250.
172. Riva Palacio, Vicente: Payno, Manuel: EL LIBRO ROJO. Mexico.
1870. [2],153pp. plus lithograph titlepage and thirty-eight lithographed plates
(at least one with hand coloring). Large folio. Brown publisher’s morocco,
stamped in black and gilt, gilt inner dentelles, a.e.g. Hinges rubbed, corners
lightly rubbed. Some light scattered foxing, but generally quite clean. Very
good.
An elaborate 19th-century Mexican lithographic book, issued on a grand scale with
large lithographs after drawings by Primitivo Miranda, depicting a pantheon of
martyrs of the Mexican nation. Riva Palacio and Payno were noted intellectuals,
and with this book they clearly sought to immortalize those who had sacrificed
their lives for the nation, thus the title, Libro Rojo or Red Book, signifying the
bloodshed throughout Mexican history. Interestingly, many of the plates depict
horrors inflicted either by Spaniards or by the Mexican Inquisition. Depicted here
are Montezuma II, Cuauhtemoc, Martin Cortez, Pedro de Alvarado, la familia
Carabajal, la familia Dongo, Hidalgo, Allende, Morelos, Guerrero, Los Marires de
Tacubaya, and Maximilian. The plate titled “La Peste (1577)” is partially colored
and depicts a country village in Mexico affected by the plague. The lithographs
are by Hernandez and Iriarte, the whole printed by Diaz de Leon y White. A rare
complete copy of this unusual lithographic book, here in a beautiful binding and
in very nice condition. $4250.
173. Rivas, Manuel Jose de la: CONSTRUCCION GRAMMATICAL DE
LOS HYMNOS ECCLESIASTICOS, DIVIDIDA EN SIETE LIBROS, POR EL ORDEN DE EL BRAVARIO ROMANO.... Mexico:
Maria de Rivera, 1747. [24],182,[4]pp. plus one plate. Titlepage printed in
red and black. Plate printed in pink. Contemporary vellum. Binding pulling
away from text block. Some minor worming in the margin; contemporary
manuscript notations, including two sections crossed out. Very good.
Spanish translation of 185 Latin hymns, chiefly by Sappho and St. Ambrose, giving
the form, metre, rhythm, etc., followed by Rivas’ rules for the Latin. Rivas was
a professor of Latin in Mexico City. Two of the hymns, “Pange lingua gloriosa
lauream,” and “Pange lingua gloriosi corpus” (pp.37-38, 48-49), have been crossed
through, though the text is still readable. After the titlepage is a lovely full-page
plate engraved by Francisco Amador portraying the Blessed Virgin Mary, with the
crucifixion on the left and the Sacred Heart and the Cathedral of Mexico on the
right. Several margins bear the signature of Vicente Ildefonso, 1765. A nice copy.
MEDINA (MEXICO) 3856. PALAU 270005.
$900.
Revolution! Announcing the Overthrow of the Spanish Government
and Deposing of the Captain General in Venezuela
174. Rivas y Galindo, Francisco: [Text begins:] PROCLAMA QUE HIZO
DON FRANCISCO RIVAS Y GALINDO, JOVEN DE EDAD DE
QUINCE AÑOS, HIJO DE DON VALENTIN RIVAS UNO DE
LOS SS. VOCALES DE LA SUPREMA JUNTA GUBERNATIVA
DE CARACAS, À LOS HABITANTES DE VENEZUELA. Caracas:
Gallagher & Lamb, April 20, 1810. Broadside, 12¼ inches. Minor worming
in foremargin, repaired. A very good copy.
A broadside of the greatest importance, announcing the overthrow of the viceregal
government in northern South America and the establishment of a new junta. Young
Rivas, son of one of the leaders of the first independent government in Venezuela,
calls on all Venezuelans to unite behind the new authority, saying “the inhabitants of
this city” have overthrown an illegitimate government, have established a “supreme
authority,” and are now breathing “the air of Independence.” He points out the
remaining provinces are the body of the new nation and that without them Caracas
is merely a bodyless head. “Unite or die” is his plea, and by doing so, “[w]e will
form a nation that will know how to maintain the honor of the Spanish people and
that will make all others respect us.”
The revolt of April 1810 was one of a series which rippled across Latin America
that spring and summer. The catalyst was the proclamation of the Spanish Cortes,
sitting in exile in Cadiz while the Peninsular War dragged on, to establish a Regency
in the name of Ferdinand VII, still a French captive while Napoleon’s brother Joseph
ruled Spain. While outwardly a liberal step, this was in fact a reassertion of Spanish authority in the New World, and alarming to those dreaming of independence.
The commissioners arrived in Caracas on April 19, 1810 and delivered their news.
The next day – the day this broadside was issued – the new junta disposed of the
captain-general of Venezuela, Emparan, and sent him into exile. The Revolution
had begun, although lip service was still paid of loyalty to Ferdinand VII.
This broadside was printed on the first regularly established press in Venezuela,
and is only the sixteenth item in Pedro Grases’ chronological list of things printed
in Venezuela. The accepted date for “the beginning” of printing in Venezuela is
October 1808, with the arrival of the press of Gallagher and Lamb and the first
publication of Andrés Bello’s Gazeta de Caracas. Grases locates only the copies in
the Public Record Office (London) and the Archivo de Indias (Seville). Searches
of NUC and OCLC fail to find any copy at all. Further, no copies were found
when searching the OPACs of the national libraries of Spain, Venezuela, Colombia,
France, and England, nor was it known to Medina.
A key document in the history of Latin American independence.
GRASES, HISTORIA DE LA IMPRENTA EN VENEZUELA 16. VILLASANA VI:108. Cam-
bridge History of Latin America III, p.102.
$20,000.
175. Rocha, Diego Andres: DE IMMACULATA DEIPARAE CONCEP-
TIONE SIVE DE ILLIUS IMMUNITATE A PECCATO ORIGINALI. Lima: Ioannis de Quevedo, 1670. [12],337,[20]pp. Small quarto.
Contemporary limp vellum. Lightly chipped and cracked along foredge. Text
block nearly detached from binding. Light soiling to titlepage; contemporary
notation crossed out. Minor soiling internally. Very good.
A work on the Immaculate Conception by Diego Andres Rocha (1607-88), auditor at the Royal Tribunal in Lima. He left his native Seville for Peru at the age
of twenty, where he studied law at the University of Lima. Rocha is most notable
for his assertion that the Chinese were early immigrants to South America in his
work, Tratado Unico y Singular del Origen de los Indios del Peru (1681). Only one
copy on OCLC, at Yale University.
MEDINA (LIMA) 468. VARGAS UGARTE 627. PALAU OCLC 54281911.
$4750.
176. Rocha, Diego Andres: EPITHETA LAUDES, ET ENCOMIA DIV-
INAE EUCHARISTIAE, EX IURE CANONICO, ET SANCTIS
PATRIBUS, ACALIJS AUTHORIBUS COLLECTA. Lima: Joseph
de Contreras, [1674]. [157]pp. Contemporary limp vellum. Light soiling to
vellum, small chip at foredge. Foredge of text unevenly trimmed. Some light
dampstaining, primarily at edges. Very good.
Religious work by Diego Andres Rocha (1607-88), auditor at the Royal Tribunal
in Lima. He left his native Seville for Peru at the age of twenty, where he studied
law at the University of Lima. Rocha is most notable for his assertion that the
Chinese were early immigrants to South America in his work, Tratado Unico y
Singular del Origen de los Indios del Peru (1681). From the Contreras Press, founded
by Geronimo de Contreras in 1621. With his son and grandson following in the
business, the Contreras press was the most active printing press in early colonial
Peru. Only one copy on OCLC, at the John Carter Brown Library.
MEDINA (LIMA) 487. PALAU 271821. VARGAS UGARTE 656. OCLC 84106764. $2500.
177. Rodo, Juan Lope del: IDEA SUCINTA DEL PROBABILISMO,
QUE CONTIENE LA HISTORIA ABREVIADA DE SU ORIGEN, PROGRESOS, Y DECADENCIA: EL EXAMEN CRITICO
DE LAS RAZONES, QUE LO ESTABLECEN, Y UN RESUMEN
DE LOS ARGUMENTOS, QUE LO IMPUGNAN POR D. JUAN
LOPE DEL RODO.... Lima: Imprenta Real Calle de Palacio, 1772. [74],
127,[1]pp. Small quarto. Contemporary limp vellum, lettered on spine. Light
soiling to vellum; 4½ x 1½-inch piece of vellum missing from foredge of rear
cover. Some light dampstaining and a few ex-lib. stamps, else quite clean.
Very good.
First edition of this work concerning probabilism and the expulsion of the Jesuits. At
the end of the 18th century this book was published in Lima under the pseudonym
of Juan Lope de Rodo. This work is not extraordinary for its content, since it was
no more than a compilation of often-used arguments against probabilism known to
any theology student of the time. Nevertheless, the book is interesting and attractive
because it is published in relation to the debates of the IV Lima Council, and is
explicitly connected to the moral system of probabilism which led to the expulsion
of the Jesuits a few years earlier. Rodo argued that the accusations of the Regal
Volume – which were made against the Society of Jesus, including propagating new
and lax doctrines, contrary to religion – were a reference to probabilism. With this,
he made it understood that the royal condemnation of the teachings of the Jesuits
was the basis for condemnation of that moral system, which the papacy had never
been moved to condemn. Only a handful of copies on OCLC.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1347. VARGAS UGARTE 2065. PALAU 139857. OCLC 3114085. $2800.
178. Rodriguez Guillén, Pedro: MEMORIA GENIAL, Y ACADEMI-
CA DEL TRIUMPHO MAYOR POR MENOR DEL LAUREL
SERAPHICO, CON QUE CINO LA MAS ESCLARECIDA MINERVA EN SU ATHENEO FAMOSO, Y SUBLIME POR SU ESTRELLA SACRO REGIA, LAS CIENES DE CONCO RELIGIOSOS DEL ORDEN DE N.S.P.S. FRANCISCO. Lima: Imprenta que
esta extra muros de Santa Cathalina, 1739. [109],384 [i.e. 387], [8]pp. Small
quarto. Contemporary limp vellum, lettered on spine. Light soiling and chipping to vellum. Minor dampstaining and soiling to text. Very good.
Orations on the occasion of the festivities connected with the reception of five
Franciscans – Fathers Luis de Santa Maria, Fernando de los Reyes, Gerónimo de
Aumente, Pedro Rodriguez Guillén (the compiler of this work), and Tomás de
la Concha – as honorary members of the faculty by the Real Universidad de San
Marcos of Lima. Only six copies on OCLC.
MEDINA (LIMA) 925. VARGAS UGARTE 1467. PALAU 274101.
$3600.
A Monument of Historical Research
and Modern Book Production
179. Sahagun, Fray Bernardino de: HÍSTORIA GENERAL DE LAS
COSAS DE NUEVA ESPANA...PRIMERA VERSIÓN ÍNTEGRA
DEL TEXTO CASTELLANO DEL MANUSCRITO CONOCIDO
CÓDICE FLORENTINO. Mexico City: Fomento cultural Banamex,
1982. Two volumes. xviii,[4],355; [6],359-745,[1]pp., plus eighty color facsimiles hors text. Folio. Uniformly bound in half morocco over silk covered
boards, spine gilt and blindstamped, gilt leather labels, t.e.g. Very fine. Each
volume in its own slipcase.
Sahagun’s Hístoria General... is one of the cornerstone works of research pertaining
to the early history of the western hemisphere, and has been described as “beyond
question the most important, as it is the most authentic history of events, transpiring in the New World, before its discovery by Columbus...no history was ever
conceived, or brought forth with more labor” – Thomas W. Field. Sahagun devoted
over thirty-five years to its compilation, and this edition is based directly upon his
definitive text, referred to generally as the Florentine Codex. This scholarly edition of Sahagun’s Hístoria General..., with an introduction and scholarly apparatus
by Alfredo Lopez Austin and Josefina Garcia Quintana, was commissioned by
Banamex as a presentation gift to their best customers. The edition consists of 500
copies printed on 100% rag paper made and watermarked especially for this project
by Monadnock Paper Mills, with letterpress by The Press of A. Colish, and color
facsimiles by Eureka Offset. The beautiful binding of half brown morocco with
raised bands, gilt labels, and crimson watered silk was executed by Harcourt Bindery of Boston. Additionally, ornaments and capitals were designed specifically for
this edition by Patrick Kennedy, and in many cases were individually handcolored.
In all regards, this is an exceptionally lavish, beautiful, and historically important
work, and unquestionably one of the major events in American book production of
the last few years. Unfortunately, due to political circumstances, the project is little
known outside the circle of those involved in its production and those few people
who have had the opportunity to examine a set. Virtually the entire edition was
shipped to Mexico City shortly before the nationalization of the Mexican banks,
and relegated to the uncertain limbo of a Banamex warehouse. $2500.
180. Salguero, Pedro, Fr.: VIDA DEL VENERABLE PADRE, Y EX-
EMPLARISSIMO VARON EL MAESTRO FR. DIEGO BASALENQUE PROVINCIAL QUE FUE DE LA PROVINCE DE SAN
NICOLAS DE MECHOACAN DEL ORDEN DE N.P.S. AGUSTIN. Rome: Imprenta de los Herederos de Barbielini, 1761. xvi,194pp. Contemporary vellum, manuscript title on spine, marca de fuego on top edge, three
of four leather ties extant. Presentation inscription on front free endpaper
dated Mexico, 1933. Internally very clean, crisp, and fresh. A very fine copy.
Second edition, after the first printed in Mexico in 1664. A biography of noted
missionary Diego Basalenque, an Augustinian best remembered for his collaboration with Miguel de Guevara on works examining the languages of the native
Matlaltzinkas of Mexico. Basalenque’s labors were largely responsible for the
considerable advances made at Charo and Valladolid, and his biography includes
much on missionary efforts at Zacatas, Charo, and the “Convento de Valladolid”
held in 1629.
SABIN 75779. PALAU 287454. MEDINA (MEXICO) 930. OCLC 9555922, 42619966.
$1500.
An Early Buenos Aires Imprint
181. San Alberto, Jose Antonio de: ORACION FUNEBRE QUE EN LAS
SOLEMNES EXCEQUIAS DEL MUY ALTO, Y PODEROSO SEÑOR CARLOS III, REY DE ESPAÑA Y DE LAS INDIAS.... Buenos
Aires. 1789. [2],128pp. Small quarto. Modern half calf and marbled boards,
spine gilt, leather label. Titlepage printed in red and black. Gathering N bound
before gathering M. Generally quite clean internally. Very good.
Funeral oration marking the death of King Carlos III of Spain (reigned 1759-1788).
Notably, it was during the reign of Carlos III (in 1767) that the Jesuits were expelled
from Spain and its possessions. A notable piece of South American printing, both
as one of the earliest products of the Argentine press and for the elaborate two-color
titlepage. Only two copies listed on OCLC, at Indiana University’s Lilly Library
and the John Carter Brown Library.
PALAU 289515. SABIN 75980. FURLONG, IMPRENTAS RIO-PLATENSES 332. MEDINA
(RIO DE LA PLATA) 115. OCLC 47646214, 84241095.
$1750.
182. Santa Maria, Francisco Xavier Antonio de: VIDA PRODIGIOSA DE
LA VENERABLE VIRGEN JUANA DE JESUS DE LA TERCERA
ORDEN DE PENITENCIA DE NUESTRO SERAPHICO PADRE
SAN FRANCISCO. Lima: En Calle del Tigre, por Francisco Sobrino y
Bados, 1756. [50],410,[7]pp. with numerous errors in pagination. Lacks frontispiece portrait. Small quarto. Contemporary vellum, faintly lettered on spine.
A few small tears along foredge of binding. Light soiling on titlepage. Light
dampstaining and scattered foxing throughout. Good.
Biography of Juana de Jesus (1652-1703), a Franciscan nun and native of Quito,
Ecuador. Only three copies on OCLC, at Cornell University, Indiana University,
and John Carter Brown Library.
MEDINA (LIMA) 1099. VARGAS UGARTE 1708. PALAU 298150 (note). OCLC 64092118,
$1800.
51980284.
183. Scoto, Antonio de: SCUTUM CONFESSIONIS CONTRA NE-
FARIOS SACERDOTES IN SACRAMENTALI CONFESSIONE
POENITENTES FOEMINAS AD TURPIA PROVOCANTES....
Mexico: Michael de Ribera, 1703. [18],92pp. 16mo. Contemporary limp vellum, manuscript title on spine, marca de fuego on top edge of text block.
Vellum lightly soiled and worn, ties lacking. Early manuscript note on front
free endpaper. Internally clean. A near fine copy.
Confessional work written by Fray Antonio de Scoto (sometimes spelled “Escoto”).
An attractive example of early 18th-century Mexican printing, utilizing italic and
roman types. Scarce, with only eight copies located on OCLC.
MEDINA (MEXICO) 2120. PALAU 303670. OCLC 55251606, 13993492.
$750.
With the Rare Map
184. [Scott, Winfield]: OFFICIAL LIST OF OFFICERS WHO
MARCHED WITH THE ARMY UNDER THE COMMAND OF
MAJOR GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT, FROM PUEBLA UPON
THE CITY OF MEXICO...AND WHO WERE ENGAGED IN
THE BATTLES OF MEXICO. Mexico: American Star Print, 1848. [24]
pp. plus map. Errata pasted to verso of titlepage. Oblong quarto. Original
printed wrappers, stitched as issued. Contemporary ownership inscription on
front wrapper. Wrappers lightly soiled and chipped; small paper loss to front
wrapper, affecting two letters in the third line of the title. Slight paper loss
to same area on titlepage, minutely affecting text; likewise the map and first
leaf of text, with loss becoming progressively smaller. Light soiling and wear.
Still, a good copy of a scarce work. In a folding cloth case.
The text, in the form of detailed tables, lists the officers with Scott, where they were
employed, and whether they were killed or wounded, or distinguished themselves.
“Printed on the occupying army’s own press” – Howes. This copy includes the plan
of the battles in the vicinity of Mexico City, which is often lacking, and it includes
the extra two lines of errata. This copy bears the ownership inscription of Mexican
War veteran J.R. Smith of Sackett’s Harbor, New York. Smith is listed on page
14 of this work; he participated in the battles at San Geronimo and Contreras &
Churubusco on August 19th and 20th, where he was severely wounded and disabled
for the remainder of the campaign.
A scarce work, in original condition, made particularly nice through interesting
provenance.
HOWES S243, “aa.” GARRETT, p.131. HAFERKORN, pp.53-54.
$2750.
Register of a Hospital for Slave Women
185. [Slavery – Peru]: QUADERNO DE LAS MUJERES ESCLAVAS
QUE ENTRAN A MEDICINARSE EN ESTE REAL HOSPITAL
DE SAN BARTOLOME DESDE EL PRIMERO DE ENERO
HASTA 31 DE DICIEMBRE DEL PRESENT ANO DE 1813 [manuscript cover title]. [Lima. 1813]. [19]pp. written on [10] leaves in a [13]leaf ledger book, with the other leaves blank. Quarto. Outer leaves somewhat
chipped and stained, with some ink scribbles and an early printed label. Fourth
leaf quite oxidized at bottom right corner, affecting several words. Otherwise
generally clean and legible. Good.
This ledger monitors the status of patients at a charity hospital exclusively for
slave women. The entries reveal a frighteningly high mortality rate, with small
ink crucifixes indicating death marked next to a large proportion of the entries.
The name and address of the owner of each woman is given, but little regarding
the purpose of the hospitalization. One woman is listed as “mistaken – free,” and
a few gave birth.
A remarkable manuscript documenting the state of enslaved women’s health
care in colonial Peru. $1750.
186. Solis y Ribadeneyra, Antonio: THE HISTORY OF THE CON-
QUEST OF MEXICO BY THE SPANIARDS. DONE INTO ENGLISH...BY THOMAS TOWNSEND, ESQ. London. 1724. [18],163,
252,152pp. plus frontispiece portrait, six folding plates, and two folding maps.
Folio. Antique-style three-quarter polished calf and marbled boards, raised
bands, leather label. Minor scattered foxing and soiling, but generally clean
internally. First folding plate lightly dampstained and repaired; penultimate
folding plate with a repaired tear, slightly affecting image. Very good.
The first edition in English of this classic history of the conquest of Mexico, first
published in Madrid in 1684 and reprinted in multiple editions in every European
language. The author was a noted Spanish dramatist and historian. This work
remained the most important European source on Latin American history up
through the first part of the 19th century.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 724/165. SABIN 86487. PALAU 318693. MEDINA (BHA) 1773n.
JCB (1)III:350. ESTC T135491.
$2000.
Manuscript of the French Translation
187. Solis y Ribadeneyra, Antonio: HISTOIRE DE LA CONQUETE
DU MEXIQUE, TRADUITE DE L’ESPAGNOL D’ANTONIO DE
SOLIS [manuscript caption title]. [Np, but France. ca. 1795]. [433]pp.
Folio. Late 19th-century black half morocco and cloth, spine gilt. Corners
rubbed. Front inner hinge cracked. Minor soiling, some contemporary ink
staining. Very good.
Manuscript translation, in French, of this classic history of the conquest of Mexico,
first published in Madrid in 1684. Though undated, it is written on paper watermarked 1793 in a neat and uniform hand. A French translation had appeared
as early as 1691, but this appears to be a different translation. The Historia de la
Conquista de Mexico was reprinted in multiple editions in every European language
and was popular on both sides of the Atlantic. The author was a noted Spanish
dramatist and historian. His work includes theatre, poetry, and prose, and he has
been considered one of the last great writers of Spanish baroque literature. This
work remained the most important European source on Latin American history
up through the first part of the 19th century. $3250.
A Leading New World Jurist
188. Solórzano Pereira, Juan de: TRADUCCION DE LA DEDICATO-
RIA REAL, I EPISTOLAS PROEMIO DEL SEGUNDO TOMO
DEL DERECHO, I GOVIERNO DE LAS INDIAS OCCIDENTALES. [Madrid]: Francisco Martinez, 1639. [4],62 leaves plus engraved
titlepage with elaborate allegorical border of King Philip IV, with Spain and
America to his right and left, ruling the world. Folio. Contemporary limp
vellum. Rear pastedown torn, rear free endpaper lacking. Occasional contemporary marginal annotations and underlining in text. Bottom corner of leaf
49 torn (no loss). Internally fresh and crisp. A near fine copy.
The rare epitome of the author’s Disputationeum de Indiarum Jure, extracted and
translated from the two-volume work originally published in Madrid in 1629 and
1639. Solórzano Pereira was a renowned Spanish administrator and jurist who
studied law at Salamanca and was a judge in the Audiencia of Lima from 1610 until
1626. He returned to Spain and became Prosecutor for the Council of the Indies,
the administrative unit responsible for Spain’s possessions in the New World. “A
learned man, familiar with the Classics, as well as Roman, Canon, and Castillian
Law, Solórzano compiled and studied all the royal decrees and laws pertaining to the
New World. The Disputationem, written in elegant Latin prose, is an extraordinary
erudite legal history of the Indies, divided into five books. Book I, which serves as
a general introduction to the rest, is a political and military history of the discovery,
acquisition, and retention of the Indies. Books II and III deal with the political and
legal status of the Indians, including a thorough study of the encomienda system.
Book IV is dedicated to all church institutions in the New World. Book V analyzes
the political organization of the Indies, from local governments to the Viceroyalty
and the Supreme Council of the Indies” – Delgado Gomez. The Traduccion provides
concise summaries of each chapter of each book in the original work.
A near fine copy of the rare epitome of Solórzano’s important study of Spanish
law in the New World. European Americana records only copies at Yale, Newberry,
JCB (imperfect), and the Bibliothèque Nationale, compared to eleven copies for
the 1629 and 1639 volumes of the Disputationem....
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 639/113. SABIN 86532. MEDINA (BHA) 1005. PALAU 318979.
DELGADO-GOMEZ, SPANISH HISTORICAL WRITING ABOUT THE NEW WORLD 48
(Disputationem de Indiarum Jure).
$4500.
189. Soria, Francisco de: MANUAL DE EXERCICIOS PARA LOS DE-
SAGRAVIOS DE CHRISTO SEÑOR N. DEDICADO AL GLORIOSO PATRIARCHA SR. SAN JOSEPH.... Mexico: Francisco de
Rivera Calderon, 1709. [130]pp. Lacks leaf F8. 20th-century calf, spine gilt,
leather label, all edges red. Extremities lightly rubbed. Contemporary manuscript notations on front fly leaf. Trimmed a bit close in some places. Minor
foxing. Very good.
Religious verses on the stations of the Cross, written by Fray Francisco de Soria,
first published in Puebla in 1686. This is the third Mexican edition, according to
Medina. Medina calls for 127 pages; this copy has 130 pages but lacks the F8 leaf.
MEDINA (MEXICO) 2228.
$1000.
190. [Spanish Indies]: EL REY. POR QUANTO, AVIENDO LLEGA-
DO À MI NOTICIA, QUE SIN EMBARGO DE LO MANDADO
POR LA LEY QUARTA, TITULO QUINCE DEL LIBRO QUINTO, PARA QUE LAS RESIDENCIAS DE OFICIOS QUE SE
PROVEYEREN À CONSULTA DE MI CONSEJO DE CAMARA
DE LAS INDIAS SE TOMEN POR LA PERSONA, QUE NOMBRARE EL PRESIDENTE DEL MISMO CONSEJO EN LOS
TERMINOS QUE PRESCRIVEN...[caption title]. [Madrid. 1758].
[3]pp. Folio. Dbd. Maltese cross at head of title. Contemporary and later
manuscript annotations in ink and later pencil annotation on first page. Accomplished in manuscript, with additional manuscript annotations. Manuscript
inscription on blank verso of final printed page. Extremely light dampstaining
in margins, occasional minor soiling and ink stains (the latter touching a few
letters). Very good.
A rare proclamation by Ferdinand VI, King of Spain, demanding that earlier laws
regarding the appointment of judges in the Spanish Indies be observed. The decree
states that disregard of these laws and guidelines in the past has been a great injustice,
causing injury to royal interests and to the general population. This proclamation
was to be sent to the viceroys and audiencias throughout the Spanish Indies. This
copy, accomplished in manuscript at Aranjuez, Spain on August 20, 1758, is signed
by Juan Emanuel Crespo, with the inscription “Yo El Rey” and the annotation “Por
mandado del Reyno exo. señor.” A manuscript inscription on the blank verso of
the final printed page, dated December 4, 1759, confirms that the decree had been
reviewed by the President, the fiscal, and other high-ranking officials in Santiago
de Chile. Not on OCLC, Medina (BHA), or Palau.
$2500.
A Papal Decree Wrapped in a Royal Cedula, as Issued
191. [Spanish Indies]: EL REY. POR QUANTO CONFORMANDOSE
MI RELIGIOSO ZELO, Y DEVOCION AL MISTERIO DE LA
IMMACULADA CONCEPCION DE LA VIRGEN SANTISSIMA
NUESTRA SEÑORA, CON EL QUE IGUALMENTE HAN MANTENIDO, Y CONSERVADO SIEMPRE MIS REYNOS, Y VASSALLOS...[caption title]. [bound with, as issued:] CLEMENS EPISCOPUS SERVUS SERVORUM DEI, AD PERPETUAM REI MEMORIAM. CLEMENTE OBISPO SIERVO DE LOS SIERVOS DE
DIOS, PARA PERPETUA MEMORIA [caption title]. [Madrid. 1761].
[2],8pp. plus integral blank leaf of first title. Folio. Dbd. The second title is
bound between the printed text and the integral blank leaf of the first title.
First title: Maltese cross at head. Contemporary ink manuscript inscriptions
and later pencil inscription at top of first page. Accomplished in manuscript
(see below). Integral blank leaf with additional manuscript inscription on recto,
verso blank. Second title: Parallel text in Latin and Spanish, with small foliated woodcut initials at beginning of each text. Testament of authenticity at
end of texts signed in manuscript, with paper seal attached at bottom of p.8.
Both titles: Extremely light dampstaining in margins, occasional light soiling
and ink stains. In very good condition.
A rare royal cedula issued by Charles III, King of Spain, confirming his Catholic
faith and directing secular and religious officials throughout the Spanish Indies to
promulgate a papal text concerning the Virgin Mary. This copy of the decree is
foliated with, as intended, Pope Clement XIV’s eight-page text. Originally delivered
in Rome on Nov. 10, 1760 and translated into Spanish on Feb. 10, 1761, the papal
text is here printed in parallel Latin and Spanish, with statements in print and
manuscript testifying to the authenticity of the text and the translation. A paper
seal of authenticity accompanies the apostolic notary’s signature. Both the King’s
decree and the Papal brief were to be distributed to the viceroys of New Spain,
Peru, and New Granada as well as presidents, governors, archbishops, bishops, and
prelates throughout the Spanish Indies. These government and religious officials
were ordered to ensure the distribution of the royal decree and accompanying papal text, and the continued adulation of the mystery of the cult of the Immaculate
Conception of the Virgin Mary.
This copy of the royal decree, accomplished in manuscript at Aranjuez, Spain
on April 16, 1771, is signed by Juan Manuel Crespo, with the additional annotation: “Yo El Rey. Por mandado del Rey Nuestro Señor.” A manuscript inscription
on the blank recto of the integral blank leaf of the first title, dated Feb. 27, 1762,
confirms that the decree and accompanying text had been reviewed by the President
and other high officials in Santiago de Chile.
A rare proclamation ordering the dissemination of a specific papal text throughout the Americas, complete with the accompanying text as issued and additional
manuscript inscriptions certifying its receipt in Santiago de Chile. The combination
of such a proclamation, accompanied by the cited text itself as issued, is remarkably
rare. Not on OCLC, Medina (BHA), or Palau. $2750.
192. Stephens, John L.: INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL IN CENTRAL
AMERICA, CHIAPAS, AND YUCATAN. New York. 1841. Two volumes. 424; 474pp., plus plates and folding map. Original gilt cloth. Fraying
at extremities, backstrip of second volume repaired. Slight scattered foxing.
Slight tear in map. A good set.
One of the classics of travels in the Americas, this describes Stephens’ discovery
and exploration of the monuments of Mayan culture. Accompanied by artist Frederick Catherwood, Stephens travelled almost 3000 miles in Mexico, visiting over
forty-four major sites. The numerous illustrations by Catherwood are based on
daguerreotypes made during the trip. A very nice copy of a fragile book usually
found in unpleasant condition.
PALAU 322310. HILL 1636. PILLING, PROOF-SHEETS 3749. FIELD 1496.
$950.
With the Important World Map
193. Strabo: STRABONIS RERUM GEOGRAPHICARUM LIBRI
XVII. ISAACUS CASAUBONUS RECENSUIT, SUMMÓQUE
STUDIO & DILIGENTIA, OPE ETIAM VETERUM CODICUM,
EMENDAUIT, AC ACMMENTARIIS ILLUSTRAUIT. Geneva: Eustathius Vignon, 1587. Two parts bound in one volume. [8],602,[2],[8],223pp.,
printed in Greek and Latin in double-columns, plus double-page engraved
map, Mercator, Rumold: ORBIS TERRAE COMPENDIOSA DESCRIPTIO. Geneva, 1587. 13 x 21 inches. Titles on titlepage and sectionpage for second part within historiated woodcut border. Folio. 17th-century
green-stained vellum over paste-boards, boards gilt with floral roll within two
triple-fillets of unstained vellum and central oval gilt coat-of-arms of “Ferdinand Hoffman Freyher Herr auf Grevenstein”; spine gilt with floral rolls
within triple-fillers of unstained vellum, title inscribed by hand in unstained
vellum of top compartment with later number “26” [library mark?] written over
title; lacking silk ties, edges sprinkled with red bands. Slight wear to boards
and spine, gilt. 10 x 6½-inch engraved allegorical bookplate of Ferdinand
Hofmann, Freiherr von Grevenstein, designed by M. Göndelach and engraved
by L. Kilian. Light worming in right margin of bookplate, front free endpaper,
titlepage, and first two leaves of text (affecting small printed portions). Light
age toning. A very good copy.
The first edition of Strabo’s Geographia edited by Isaac Casaubon, with the excessively rare double-hemispherical world map by Rumold Mercator based on his
father Gerald’s renowned 1569 world map. One of the earliest and most important
scientific treatises on historical geography, and Strabo’s only surviving work, the
Geographia represents an initial attempt to compile geographical knowledge in a
unified manner. The work provides a survey of the topographical, historical, and
political characteristics of the principal regions of the Roman world, also including
information concerning philosophy, political theory, geology, mathematics, science,
and history. Causabon’s famous edition is based on four manuscripts which were
in the library of his father-in-law, Henri Estienne, the esteemed Geneva printer
and humanist.
The first appearance of Mercator’s only obtainable world map, the two-page
double-hemispherical world map is handsomely decorated with elaborate strap-work
borders, an armillary sphere, and a compass rose. “Gerald Mercator’s great world
map of 1569 was condensed into double-hemispherical form by his son Rumold...
Later Rumold’s map was incorporated into editions of Mercator’s long-lived and
influential Atlas from 1595 onwards...The engraving is a model of clarity and neatness, with typical cursive flourishes to the lettering of the sea names” – Shirley.
An important 16th-century edition of Strabo with the first appearance of Mercator’s only obtainable world map.
Strabo: ADAMS S-1908. Mercator: SHIRLEY 157. WAGNER NORTHWEST COAST 146.
KOEMAN Me12.
$45,000.
194. [Sutcliffe, Thomas]: SIXTEEN YEARS IN CHILE AND PERU
FROM 1822 TO 1839. London. [1841]. xii,563,[1]pp. plus eight plates and
folding map. With added engraved titlepage. Modern half calf and marbled
boards. Front fly leaf loose. Bright and clean internally. Very good.
The author participated in the Napoleonic wars at the battles of Corfu and Waterloo.
Sutcliffe later ventured to South America, and in 1817 fought with the Colombians
as a colonel of cavalry against the Spanish. He also served in Chile in a number
of military and administrative positions, including governor of the Juan Fernandez
Islands. The present work contains a vivid account of the revolutionary campaigns
in Chile and Peru during the 1820s and ’30s. Also included are descriptions of the
manners and customs of the inhabitants of South America and an account of the
earthquake of 1835 which devastated parts of Chile (shown on the folding map).
The attractive engraved plates depict costumes of Lima, the main square of Santiago,
and Chileans hunting the Guanaco, among others.
PALAU 325811. SABIN 93950. HILL 1656 (ref ).
$2000.
195. Torres Mendez, Ramon: MODO DE VIAJAR EN LAS MONTA-
NAS DE QUINDIO I SONSON [a single plate from C ostumbres
Neo-Granadinas]. Bogota, Colombia: Herman Martinez, 1851. Handcolored lithograph within a decorative border. Sheet size: 10¾ x 14 inches. Very
good.
An important view from an extremely rare series of beautiful South American color
plates, depicting places and characters in and around Bogota, Colombia. This plate
shows a traveller being carried over the Quindio pass by a “sillero,” a porter with
a wicker chair strapped to his back, a typical form of upper-crust transit in 19thcentury Colombia.
Ramon Torres Mendez received no formal artistic training, but in his youth
was attached to Messrs. Fox and Stokes, a Bogota print shop, where his skill as a
draftsman was recognized. He specialized in capturing in his drawings the activities and recreations of the inhabitants of Bogota. Torres Mendez’ original Bogota
prints are extremely rare and virtually unknown. The NUC and OCLC both locate
portfolios of reprints of Torres Mendez’s work, but none of the original prints. Not
listed in Abbey.
REESE, STAMPED WITH A NATIONAL CHARACTER 86.
$2000.
196. Torres Mendez, Ramon: [ALBUM DE CUADROS DE COSTUMBRES COLOMBIANAS]. Paris: Delarue, [ca. 1861]. Six handcolored
lithographic plates after R. Torres Mendez, heightened with gum arabic. Each
uniformly matted. Very good.
An important and extremely rare series of beautiful South American color plates,
depicting places and characters in and around Bogota, Colombia. These plates are
from the Paris series of Torres Mendez plates, issued about 1861, after the originals
published in Bogota in 1851-52. There were thirty-six plates in the entire series,
of which six are present here.
Ramon Torres Mendez received no formal artistic training but in his youth
was attached to Messrs. Fox and Stokes, a Bogota print shop, where his skill as a
draftsman was recognized. He specialized in capturing in his drawings the activities and recreations of the inhabitants of Bogota.
The images here are captioned as follow:
1) “Traje I Modo de Viajar de los Campesinos de las Tierras Altas.” Travellers
bound for one of the high mountain passes ride mules, swathed in bright serapes.
2) “Indios Pescadores del Funza.” Fishmongers carry strings of fish from a mountain lake.
3) “Arriero y su Mujer Sabana de Bogota.” A water carrier offers a drink.
4) “Polleros de Choachi Colombia.” Chicken farmers are depicted on their way to
market with cages of fowls on their backs.
5) “Carboneros de Choachi Colombia.” Charcoal burners drive oxen loaded with
huge sacks.
6) “Conduccion de Muebles Bogota.” Furniture movers carry household possessions
through the streets of Bogota.
REESE, STAMPED WITH A NATIONAL CHARACTER 86 (Bogota ed).
$3000.
Guide for Franciscan Educators
197. Truxillo, Manuel Maria: EXHORTACION PASTORAL, AVISOS
IMPORTANTES, Y REGLAMENTOS UTILES, QUE PARA LA
MEJOR OBSERVANCIA DE LA DISCIPLINA REGULAR, E ILLUSTRACION DE LA LITERATURA EN TODAS LAS PROVINCIAS Y COLEGIOS APOSTOLICOS DE AMERICA Y FILIPINAS. Madrid. 1786. [6],240pp. plus engraved folding table. Contemporary
half calf and marbled boards, paper label. Binding significantly rubbed, corners
quite worn. Contemporary inscriptions on front and rear fly leaves. Minor
foxing. A few small tears to plate. Very good.
A guide for Franciscan educators in America and the Philippines, in which Truxillo,
the Commissary General for the Indies in Madrid, encourages educators to take a
more enlightened view. The plate is a table showing royal patronage, enumerating
the number of convents and missions in each of the colonial provinces and viceroyalties. Relatively scarce on the market.
MEDINA (BHA) 5213. PALAU 341770. SABIN 97278. BIBLIOTECA FILIPINA 2731.
$1350.
198. Ulloa, Antonio de, and George Juan: A VOYAGE TO SOUTH-
AMERICA: DESCRIBING AT LARGE THE SPANISH CITIES,
TOWNS, PROVINCES, &c. ON THAT EXTENSIVE CONTINENT. INTERSPERSED THROUGHOUT WITH REFLECTIONS ON THE GENIUS, CUSTOMS, MANNERS, AND
TRADE OF THE INHABITANTS.... Dublin: Printed for William
Williamson, 1758. Two volumes. 378; [5],10-356 [i.e. 346]pp., plus five plates
(three folding). Contemporary calf, rebacked with gilt spine, leather labels.
Boards rubbed at extremities. Some light scattered foxing and toning. About
very good.
The scarce Dublin edition, issued the same year as the first English edition, published in London. Both English editions are based on the original Spanish edition
published in Madrid in 1748. The King of Spain granted permission to the French
Academy of Sciences to send an expedition, under the leadership of CharlesMarie de la Condamine, to the equinoctial regions of Spanish South America for
the purpose of measuring the dimension and shape of the earth. As part of the
Crown’s agreement to allow the expedition access to Spanish territory, Ulloa and
Juan y Santacilia accompanied the expedition. Upon returning to Spain, Juan was
responsible for the text related to the scientific observations, while Ulloa compiled
the history of the expedition. In addition to this English translation, French, German, and Dutch editions were also published before 1800.
The work includes information on the climate, geography, natural history, and
inhabitants of the various regions the authors explored throughout South America.
The engravings are particularly fine, and several of the plans are notable for the
surrounding vignettes depicting various inhabitants. One such engraving includes
“A Spanish Lady of Quito, An Indian Woman of Distinction, An Indian Barber,
A Mestizo of Quito, An Indian Peasant, An Indian Woman of the common sort.”
“This translation of Ulloa’s Relacion Historica...was published exactly ten years
after Richard Walter’s official account of the Anson voyage, thus giving the British
a valuable addition to their small fund of knowledge about the Spanish Viceroyalty
of Peru. The Resumen Historico...y Demas Soberanos del Perú, by Garcilaso de la
Vega, found in the original, is omitted from this translation, as is the companion
scientific work by Jorge Juan y Santacilia” – Hill.
SABIN 36813. HILL 1741 (ref ). ESTC T178186.
$1500.
199. Unanue, Joseph Hipolito: OBSERVACIONES SOBRE EL CLIMA
DE LIMA, Y SUS INFLUENCIAS EN LOS SERES ORGANIZADOS, EN ESPECIAL EL HOMBRE. Lima: Imprenta Real de los Huerfanos, 1806. [18],9,cxcviii,[2]pp. plus two folding leaves of letterpress. Small
quarto. Contemporary calf, spine gilt. Rubbed at extremities. Text heavily
wormed. Light dampstaining and tanning. Poor.
The first edition of the first treatise on hygiene in Spanish. Professor Unanue was
famous in his time, and through his books his prestige reached Europe. In this
book the author, who today would be considered a physician-hygienist, was very
interested in diet, climate, the races that lived together in Lima, the typical diseases
of the place, food, the methods of curing climatic illnesses, etc. There are also
various references to wine as a curative throughout the text. Unanue’s importance
continues to this day, evidenced by the number of times he is cited in Aristides A.
Moll’s history of medicine in South America, Aesculapius in Latin America (1944).
Of great interest for the history of medicine and hygiene.
MEDINA (LIMA) 2013. VARGAS UGARTE 3281. PALAU 344286. OCLC 24379083,
253067222.
$1000.
200. Valdes, Joseph Eugenio: VIDA ADMIRABLE Y PENITENTE DE
LA V.M. SOR SEBASTIANA JOSEPHA DE LA SS. TRINIDAD,
RELIGIOSA DE CORO, Y VELO NEGRO EN EL RELIGIOSISSIMO CONVENTO DE SEÑORAS RELIGIOSAS CLARISAS DE
SAN JUAN DE LA PENITENCIA DE ESTA CIUDAD DE MEXICO. Mexico. 1765. [8],396,[4] plus plate. Latter half of book misbound
but complete. Small quarto. Later vellum, spine gilt. Final leaf with some
marginal loss, repaired, with minor loss of text. Title with some tears and
toning. Internally clean. Very good.
Extensive biography of the Mexican nun, Sebastiana Josepha, which includes an
engraved illustration of her kneeling in prayer before the baby Jesus.
MEDINA (MEXICO) 5022.
$1500.
201. Valdés, Rodrigo de: POEMA HEROYCO HISPANO-LATINO
PANEGYRICO DE LA FUNDACION, Y GRANDEZAS DE LA
MUY NOBLE, Y LEAL CIUDAD DE LIMA. OBRA POSTUMA.
Madrid: En la Imprenta de Antonio Roman, 1687. [56] leaves, 184pp., [4]
leaves. Small quarto. Recased in old vellum. Very good.
In this epic poem, Valdés (1609-82), a Peruvian-born Jesuit, tells in 572 quatrains
of the founding, growth, and grandeur of the city of Lima. The poem is divided
in “arguments,” and the text is accompanied by extensive sidenotes of a comparative and explanatory nature. Included as part of the forematter is a life of Valdés
by Father Francisco del Quadro (leaves a–g4). In addition to his calling to the
priesthood, Valdés felt strong attractions to history and poetry, and he acted on all
three impulsions.
The poem was left unpublished at the time of the author’s death, and Francisco
Garabito de León Messía saw to its publication.
PALAU 347681. MEDINA (BHA) 1806. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 687/140. DeBACKER-SOMMERVOGEL VIII, pp.376-77.
$2875.
Spanish Manual on Indian Fighting, 1599
202. Vargas Machuca, Bernardo de: MILICIA Y DESCRIPCION DE
LAS INDIAS. Madrid: En casa de Pedro Madrigal, 1599. [15],186,[21]
leaves, lacking portrait facing p.1 and final leaf with printing ornament. Small
quarto. Early mottled calf, spine gilt, leather label. Minor wear to hinges and
corners. Some soiling and wear on lower corners of last few index pages.
Earlier library ink stamps. Very good.
One of the most important Spanish works on the Indies and New World military
organization in the 16th century. It is a tactical manual by a Spanish veteran of
the colonial South American frontier and the brutal wars against rebellious native
Americans, as well as a rich source of ethnographic and military detail. “The first
manual of guerilla warfare ever published...he advocated for the Americas the creation of commando groups to carry out search-and-destroy missions deep within
enemy territory for up to two years at a time” – Parker. This work served as both a
guide to aid new arrivals in conquest, as well as a sometimes testy address to King
Phillip II detailing Vargas Machuca’s many services to the Crown, whom he felt
never recognized him adequately for his service. The text is divided into four books,
followed by a description of the Indies. The parts cover the following subjects: the
qualities needed to lead, the preparation of soldiers and necessary materials, the duty
of the soldier, and the settling of the land after conquest. It includes significant
chapters on military medicine and natural history, though the real significance lies
in the fact that “scattered throughout Milicia Indiana are unwitting fragments of
indigenous and rural Spanish colonial history. Perhaps the main gap that this book
helps to fill, if only partially, is the story of early and unconquered ‘backcountry’
New Granada” – Lane.
Bernardo Vargas Machuca (ca.1555-1622) was a Spanish soldier, born in Simancas. He took part in several campaigns in Old Granada and Italy before setting
off for the Caribbean in 1578 to help chase down the famed pirate, Francis Drake.
His first services in the New World are obscure, until he arrived in New Granada,
present-day Colombia, in 1585, one of many re-conquistadors still hoping to find
the golden city of El Dorado. While settled in New Granada he participated in
many campaigns against rebellious natives, becoming known for his ruthless and
quick-striking tactics, explained in this text. These included campaigns in presentday Peru and Bolivia, and Colombia. In 1595 he returned to Spain, hoping to
capitalize on his service to obtain promotion. Despite his best efforts, including
the publication of this book, Vargas Machuca was unable to secure an encomienda
or any other titles or appointments from King Phillip II. What positions he did
manage to secure were in out-of-the-way locations relatively ignored by the Crown:
one as paymaster of the three forts of Portobelo in Panama and later as governor
of Margarita Island in the Caribbean. Both appointments were short-lived and
ill-starred, and in the end, Vargas Machuca, both broke and indignant, made his
way to court once again to seek another appointment. In keeping with his ill-luck,
he died suddenly in Madrid of an unknown illness, shortly after being appointed
governor of Antioquia, one of New Granada’s declining gold districts.
The Milicia Indiana is thus a manual of Indian warfare, an appeal for promotion based on services, and a picture of the colonial New World at a time far less
documented than the original conquest. The multiple bankruptcies of the Spanish
Crown and the decline of bullion production from the Americas were leading the
New World empire into a long, slow decline. It is this period of entropy, balanced
by violent frontier conflict, that Vargas Machuca documents. The book is also a
proposal: the Indian uprisings in colonial Chile, long a thorn in the side of the
Spanish, had broken out again, and he hoped to be appointed governor-general
there, to suppress the rebellion with the tactics described in the book. He did not
get the appointment.
Besides this book Vargas Machuca wrote Compendio y Doctrina Nueva de la Gineta, Secretos y Advertencias de Ella, Senales y Enfrenamientos de Caballos, su Curacion
y Beneficio, a manual on horsemanship printed in Madrid in 1619; and Defensa de las
Conquistas de las Indias, an attack on Las Casas, which only survives in manuscript.
This is the only copy of the present work to appear for sale since a copy sold at
auction in 1967; Maggs asked £250 for a copy in 1927. As is usually the case, the
final leaf with printing ornament is lacking, as is the portrait. A rare and interesting
work on early warfare tactics against the natives of South America. Accompanied
by the modern scholarly translation.
EUROPEAN AMERICANA 599/89. MEDINA (BHA) 402. BEINECKE LESSER ANTILLES COLLECTION 9. PALAU 352445. SABIN 98604. MAGGS BIBLIOTHECA AMERICANA
496:407. Geoffrey Parker, The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West (Cambridge,
1996), p.120. Appleton’s Cyclopædia VI, p.260. Kris Lane, ed., The Indian Militia and Description of the
Indies (Durham, 2008).
$22,500.
The First Published History of the Maya
203. Villagutierre Sotomayor, Juan de: HISTORIA DE LA CONQUIS-
TA DE LA PROVINCIA DE EL ITZA, REDUCCION, Y PROGRESSOS DE LA DE EL LACANDON, Y OTRAS NACIONES
DE INDIOS BARBAROS, DE LA MEDIACION DE EL REYNO
DE GUATIMALA, A LAS PROVINCIAS DE YUCATAN, EN LA
AMERICA SEPTENTRIONAL. Madrid: Lucas Antonio de Bedmar y
Narvaez, 1701. Engraved “frontispiece,” [32] leaves, 660pp., [17] leaves. Folio.
19th-century Spanish sheep (“pasta española”). Covers abraded, pinhole-type
worming in spine. Loss of lower inch of spine leather to insects. Browning to
text due to impurities in water during paper manufacture. Small insect damage
to margins of first four leaves, not touching any text; similar small damage
in inner margins of last four leaves. Over all, a decent copy of a scarce work.
Although the author never set foot in the New World, his high position in the
Consejo de Indias and other royal councils gave him access to much important
documentation for the writing of this prized history of the conquest of the Izta
Maya and the attempted conquest of the Lacandón Indians during the last decades
of the 17th century; the conquest of Petén and the misadventures of Roque de
Soberanis y Senteno and Martín de Urzúa, two governors of the Yucatán, make
for very exciting reading. This is the first published book dedicated solely to the
history of the Yucatán and the Maya, here offered in its first edition, first issue
(with the incorrect catchword “gla” at the foot of the recto of the twenty-second
preliminary leaf ).
Bedmar y Narvaez printed the titlepage in black and red and the text is in
double-column format. This copy contains both the engraved “frontispiece” and
the black and red titlepage, but, as usual, not the very rare colophon.
Although touted as “Primera parte” on the titlepage, there were no further parts;
this Historia… is complete, “all published.”
PALAU 366681. MEDINA (BHA) 2051. SABIN 99643. LECLERC 1546. SALVÁ 3422. HEREDIA 3407. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 701/262. For Villagutierre, see Archivo Biográfico de España,
Portugal, e Iberoamérica, fiche 1019, frames 213-16.
$28,750.
204. Wafer, Lionel: A NEW VOYAGE AND DESCRIPTION OF THE
ISTHMUS OF AMERICA. GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF THE
AUTHOR’S ABODE THERE...THE INDIAN INHABITANTS...
WITH REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES IN THE SOUTH-SEA
AND ELSEWHERE. THE SECOND EDITION. TO WHICH
ARE ADDED, THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THOSE PARTS...
AND DAVIS’ EXPEDITION TO THE GOLD MINES, IN 1702.
London: James Knapton, 1704. [16],283,[13]pp. plus folding map and three
engraved folding plates. 19th-century three-quarter black morocco and pebbled
cloth, spine gilt, leather labels. Extremities rubbed. Closed tears in large folding plates discreetly repaired. Light scattered foxing. A few leaves trimmed a
bit close. About very good.
The second edition of this important narrative. Wafer, a British surgeon, abandoned
the trading party with whom he had sailed for the West Indies in 1679, joining
up with celebrated buccaneers Lynch and Cook. In their company he crossed the
Isthmus, where he remained in order to recover from an injury, staying with the
Darien Indians, whose confidence he gained. When he reached the coast again, he
joined Dampier’s party. The map is the same as that which appeared in Dampier’s
A New Voyage... (1697), and the folding plates depict scenes among the Indians,
including a view of a Council, “smoaking Tobacco after their way.” Appended to this
edition is an interesting account by Nathaniel Davis of an expedition of Englishmen
to the gold mines of Spanish America in 1702. This work is so complimentary to
that of Dampier that it was subsumed into the third edition of Dampier’s narrative.
SABIN 100940. HILL 1797. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 704/168. JCB (1)III:62.
$2250.
205. Walton, William: AN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE AC-
COUNT OF THE PERUVIAN SHEEP, CALLED CARNEROS
DE LA TIERRA; AND OF THE EXPERIMENTS MADE BY THE
SPANIARDS TO IMPROVE THE RESPECTIVE BREEDS.... London: Printed for John Harding, 1811. [2],183pp. plus five handcolored engraved plates. Contemporary calf, rebacked. Covers and spine scuffed, corners
abraded. Occasional staining and foxing, first plate facing titlepage worn and
partially disbound. A good copy.
Walton, son of a consul for Spain based in Liverpool, was educated in both Spanish
and Portuguese and travelled to the Spanish American colonies in the early 19th
century. He served as secretary to the British expedition which captured Santo
Domingo from the French in 1802 and remained in Haiti as British agent for several
years, returning to England in 1809. From that time forward he was devoted to
writing about Spain, Portugal, and their colonies.
The present work was written with the hope that “Peruvian sheep” could be
raised in England and interbred with domestic sheep to improve the quality of British wool, making this product competitive with foreign wools. Individual chapters
are devoted to the llama, the alpaca, the huanuco, and the vicuña, and included is
“an account of a successful attempt to domesticate the vicuña in England, and a
recommendation of this species to cross with our native stocks.”
Particularly engaging in this copy are the plates of each of the breeds described
in the text. The contemporary hand-coloring is quite extensive, revealing much
attention given to the illustrations by an early owner.
Walton had published an earlier work on these Peruvian animals, but he is best
known as the author of numerous works concerned with the Spanish and Portuguese
colonies in the Americas. These include The Present State of the Spanish Colonies
(London, 1810), An Exposé on the Dissensions of Spanish America (London, 1814),
Report On the Mines in the Eastern Division of Hayti (London, 1825), and The True
Interests of the European Powers and the Emperor of Brazil in Reference to the Existing
Affairs of Portugal (London, 1829).
SABIN 101223. ALBERICH 1595.
$2000.
206. Westin, Richard (compiler): U.S. – MEXICAN TREATIES. Buffalo,
N.Y. 1996-2002. Thirteen volumes. Library cloth, as issued. A fine set.
Complete set of this essential reference, including the two supplementary volumes.
Westin begins with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the Mexican-American
War. The supplementary volumes extend to the end of 2000.
$750.
Crucial Works for the Story
of British Involvement in Central America
207. [White, Robert]: THE CASE OF HIS MAJESTY ’S SUBJECTS,
SETTLED ON THE COAST OF YUCATAN, IN THE BAY OF
HONDURAS, UNDER THE SPECIAL AND SOLE PROTECTION OF THE CROWN OF SPAIN.... [bound with:] THE CASE
OF HIS MAJESTY’S SUBJECTS HAVING PROPERTY IN AND
LATELY ESTABLISHED UPON THE MOSQUITO SHORE IN
AMERICA....SUPPLEMENT TO THE PRECEDING FIRST SECTION OF THE CLAIMANTS’ CASE, RESPECTING THEIR
SETTLEMENTS AND POSSESSIONS ON THE MOSQUITO
SHORE. [bound with:] THE CASE OF THE AGENT TO THE SETTLERS ON THE COAST OF YUCATAN; AND THE LATE SETTLERS ON THE MOSQUITO-SHORE. STATING THE WHOLE
OF HIS CONDUCT, IN SOLICITING COMPENSATION FOR
THE LOSSES, SUSTAINED BY EACH OF THOSE CLASSES OF
HIS MAJESTY’S INJURED AND DISTRESSED SUBJECTS. London: Printed for T. Cadell in the Strand, 1789/1789/1793. [2],51,[1]; [2],72,
17,[1]; [4],179pp. Quarto. Contemporary marbled paper boards with new calf
backstrip and corners, gilt leather label. A few leaves with light foxing, else
quite clean internally. Very good. In this copy the third title in our description
is bound first, with the next two following it.
This is the complete complement of works arising out of the long-standing dispute
between England and Spain over the English colonization of the Mosquito Coast
in Central America. Latin America had historically been controlled by Spain (for
the most part), though the English established a presence in Central America in the
17th century, represented mostly by buccaneers or logwood cutters. By the mid-18th
century the region had several hundred British settlers, and their right to live in the
area was seemingly affirmed by Spain in the 1763 Treaty of Paris, which ended the
Seven Years’ War. However, in 1779, Spain entered the American Revolutionary
War as an ally of France, which had just made a treaty of alliance with the United
States. This precipitated a Spanish attack on British settlements in the Mosquito
Coast, in which a large amount of British property was destroyed. The Convention
of London of 1786 between England and Spain called for the evacuation of Brit-
ish subjects from the Mosquito Coast. The arguments of the English claimants to
losses that resulted from the 1779 attack and the 1786 treaty are laid out in great
detail in this group of texts. Included are a historical sketch of the region and of
the English presence there, a detailed chronological description of the conflict with
Spain, and an account of English monetary damages and losses. Robert White was
the lead counselor on behalf of the claimants.
A search of OCLC reveals only three institutions that have all three of the
titles listed above, the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, and the
Huntington Library. Rare, and quite interesting with regard to this manifestation
of the Anglo-Spanish rivalry in America.
SABIN 103448, 103447, 51077. PALAU 375018, 375017.
$9500.
Men of Cajamarca: Two Eyewitness Accounts of Events
208. Xerez, Francisco de: LIBRO PRIMO DE LA CONQVISTA DEL
PERV & PROUINCIA DEL CUZCO DE LE INDIE OCCIDENTALI. [Colophon: Vinegia (i.e. Venice): Stampato per Stephano da Sabio,
1535]. [62] leaves. Small quarto. 19th-century pebbled pigskin, spine gilt.
Boards and extremities lightly rubbed. Some minor soiling, a few leaves lightly
toned. Two small tears, on titlepage and second leaf, neatly repaired. Very
good.
As one of the “Men of Cajamarca,” Francisco de Xerez holds a very special place
among writers on the earliest period of Spanish contact with the Inca of Peru: He
was there from day one, a member of the very small band of men who left Panama
with Pizarro and Almagro to seek fame and fortune in South America. At Cajamarca he participated in the taking of the Inca leader, Atahualpa, the slaughter
of his army, and the sharing of the ransom demanded of the Inca nation for the
return of their leader. By training a notary public and practiced writer, he was by
choice Pizarro’s secretary/confidant, the two having been close since at least 1524,
when they met in Panama; and when in 1534 he returned to Spain, he took with
him his share of the wealth of Atahualpa, a broken leg, and a tale to tell that was
significant, stirring, and in fact tellable by no other man. He conceived of his book
as being at once a socially and politically useful celebration of Pizarro’s deeds and
his own, a celebration of the glory of Spain as that was expressing itself in a remote
and wondrous New World, and as a true entertainment cast in the tradition of the
romance of chivalry; not surprisingly, it was a blockbuster.
Xerez’s eyewitness account of the conquest of Peru was originally published in
Spain in 1534 in Spanish as the Verdadera Relación de la Conquista del Peru y Provincia del Cuzco Llamada la Nueva Castilla. Demand for news of the new, “exotic”
kingdom of Peru, which had only been conquered in 1532, was found to be keen
not only in Spain but all across Europe, leading to this rapid translation into Italian.
Appended to Xerez’s account (fols. [43v] to [55r]) is a translation of Miguel
de Estete’s account of Pizarro’s army’s journey from Cajamarca to Pachacamac and
then to Jauja. Estete was also present at Cajamarca and is said to have been the
first Spaniard to lay hands on Atahualpa.
Both of these first translations into Italian are from the pen of Domingo de
Gaztelu (secretary of Don Lope de Soria, Charles V’s ambassador to Venice) and
are taken from the second edition of the Spanish-language original. The text is
printed in roman type and has a large heraldic woodcut device on the tittlepage
and a xylographic printer’s device on the verso of the last leaf.
CHURCH 73. HARRISSE 200. SABIN 105721. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 535/21. HUTH
1628. BM STC, ITALIAN, p.738. MEDINA (BHA) 95. JCB I:119.
$40,000.
First English Edition of a Primary Account of Peru
209. [Zarate, Augustin de]: THE STRANGE AND DELECTABLE
HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERIE AND CONQUEST OF THE
PROVINCES OF PERU, IN THE SOUTH SEA. AND OF THE
NOTABLE THINGS WHICH ARE FOUND THERE.... London:
Richard Iones, 1581. 100 leaves. Woodcuts on first titlepage and in text. Small
quarto. Full gilt morocco by Middleton, spine gilt extra, gilt inner dentelles,
a.e.g. Trimmed close, affecting headlines but not text; some leaves with minor
staining and soiling. Else good.
The first English edition of one of the most important early histories of the Spanish conquest of Peru, first published in Spanish in 1555. Zarate was sent by the
Spanish Crown to Peru to investigate its finances. He remained there for several
years as treasurer-general, charged with looking into the region’s financial affairs.
He authored the present work from his notes upon his return to Spain. “This
work, in four books, is, in fact, the foundation of all the subsequent histories of
the events to which it refers, and the narrative is given with force and simplicity.
The characters of the different heroes are clearly and strongly drawn, and there is
a long, distinct chapter (9 of Book IV ) on the appearance, conduct, and dispositions of Pizarro and Almagro. The accounts of the execution of Almagro, and of
the assassination of Pizarro, are written with much spirit and picturesqueness; and
the story of the misfortunes and final death of Atabaliba, the young Peruvian Inca,
is very touching” – Church. The text is illustrated with interesting cuts, including
the famous hill of silver at Potosi (depicted on the illustrated titlepage and again
in the text) and one of llamas.
CHURCH 126. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 581/70. SABIN 106272. STC 26123. JCB (3)I:287.
$22,500.