BROADSIDES
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Venezuela’s First Newspaper

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•  Newspaper printing did not begin in Venezuela until October, 1808, when the press of Gallagher and Lamb arrived and printed, as its first product, the first issue of Andrés Bello’s Gazeta de Caracas. The news that Andrés Bello gives to eager readers in this supplement concerns the total occupation of Madrid by Napoleon’s forces, the fleeing to Gibraltar of 5000 Spanish soldiers, and other distresses that the Spanish army was suffering.

Uncommon: Charno locates copies of the supplement only at the Newberry and University of Texas libraries.

•  Charno, Latin American Newspapers in United States Libraries, pp. 590–92. As issued. Worming in foremargin, touching two letters; repaired; small hole where paper was thin at center of leaf, taking a bit of a rule but no text. Pencilling in margins. A very good copy.

Offering Land inTEXAS

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•  The vice-president offers to assist Mexican citizens who have suffered by the discord and upheavals that have characterized the nation. His offer is to aid them in acquiring government lands in the state of Coahuila y Texas.

Rare: We locate only the copies in the Texas State Land Office, Yale, and Texas A&M.

•  Streeter, Texas, 812.   Very good condition.  (21744)

Lord Byron’s Ancestor a'Pleading — BROADSIDE 1709

Gordon, George Gordon,

•  Broadside documenting a legal action over the rents of Aboyne, involving the first Duke of Gordon, ancestor of Lord Byron. Scarce: No holdings were located by ESTC, RLIN, OCLC, or NUC Pre-1956.

•  Creased with slight soiling along crease, edges slightly ragged, otherwise in good condition; now in a Mylar folder. Tipped onto a blank leaf bearing a watermark of 1826.

Broadside Biography of hisFather-in-Law

Keim, D[aniel] M[ay].

•  In this rare broadside Major Daniel May Keim (1806–67) gives a factual and surprisingly dispassionate account of the life and accomplishments of his father-in-law, Thomas Shewell, a Bucks County–born successful merchant in Philadelphia during the period 1796–1832, who died in 1848. In addition to his business accomplishments, Shewell served for many years as the manager of the House of Refuge in Philadelphia. Maj. Keim was a native of Bristol, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, an avid historian and contributor to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, himself a merchant, and a Mason. He ends this publication by promising “in our next number to give a sketch of the life of” Shewell’s son Joseph B. Shewell.

Rare: We fail to trace this via NUC Pre-1956, OCLC, RLIN, and the OPACS of the Library Company, the Free Library of Philadelphia, and the Library of Congress.

•  Shallow tears in margin, folded once. Light age-toning. Very good.

The FIRST Step Towards Independence — VENEZUELA

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•  Both Llamosas and Tovar Ponte were leading figures of the early Independence movement in Venezuela. Both served as president of Junta of Defense of the Rule of Fernando VII (later, The Revolutionary Junta), Llamosas 19 April – Aug 1810, and Tovar Aug 1810 – 2 March 1811. Additionally Tovar Ponte, the favorite son of an elite family, was a member of the 1811 Congress and a signer of the Venezuelan Act of Independence.

In this decree Llamosas and Tovar Ponte explain the coup d’etat of 19 April in which the viceroy was deposed and a caretaker government was installed. Although stating loyalty to the imprisoned Spanish king, the revolutionaries repeatedly use the terms “independent” and “independence.”

This historic document was printed by Venezuela’s first press, that of Gallagher and Lamb, which only arrived in Caracas in October of 1808, and it is universally dated as having come off the press on 20 April 1810!

Very Rare.  This broadside was unknown to Medina and is only the 15th item in Pedro Grases chronological list of things printed in Venezuela. In his entry he located only the copies in the Public Record Office (London) and the Archivo de Indias (Seville). Searches of NUC, OCLC, and RLIN fail to find any copy at all. Further, no copies were found when searching the OPACs of the national libraries of Venezuela, Colombia, Spain, France, and England.

•  Not in Medina, Caracas; not in Villasana. Grases, Historia de la imprenta en Venezuela, Repertorio #15. As issued, but one later fold. Worming in upper and lower margins; repaired. Pencilling in margins. A very good copy.

The Merchants Join In

•  On the day after the coup d’etat that deposed the viceroy, the leaders of the governing junta in Caracas announce that many of the city’s Spanish and European merchants have given their support to the new government. Whether they did so willingly or because of pressure is not stated. But this is clearly a statement that is directed at both the hold-out merchants and at those hotheads who might seek to extract compliance extra-governmentally. Click the image for an enlargement.

Llamosas and Tovar Ponte were among the leading figures of the early Independence movement in Venezuela. Both served as president of Junta of Defense of the Rule of Fernando VII (later, The Revolutionary Junta), Llamosas 19 April – Aug 1810, and Tovar Aug 1810 – 2 March 1811. Additionally Tovar Ponte, the favorite son of an elite family, was a member of the 1811 Congress and a signer of the Venezuelan Act of Independence.

This historic document was printed by Venezuela’s first press, that of Gallagher and Lamb, which only arrived in Caracas in October of 1808, and is it universally dated as having come off the press on 20 April!

Very Rare.  This broadside was unknown to Medina and is only the 14th item in Pedro Grases chronological list of things printed in Venezuela. In his entry he located only the copies in the Public Record Office (London) and the Archivo de Indias (Seville). Searches of NUC, OCLC, and RLIN fail to find any copy at all. Further, no copies were found when searching the OPACs of the national libraries of Venezuela, Colombia, Spain, France, and England.

•  Not in Medina, Caracas; not in Villasana. Grases, Historia de la imprenta en Venezuela, Repertorio #14. As issued. Worming in fore-margin, touching but not costing three letters; repaired. A very good copy.

Dramatic Romance & Comic Opera — With Hot Air Balloons

Each: $450.00

Bifolia. [2] ff.
Each: $1000.00

•  Featured plays include Romeo and Juliet, Douglas, The West Indian, and "a new comic opera" called Robin Hood; or, Sherwood Forest. Secondary attractions range from dances to minor dramatic works to pantomimes, with sheets for consecutive evenings showing how a main attraction might be paired with a comedy one night and a musical entertainment the next.

These theatrical ephemera are quite scarce: While 19th-century examples are fairly common, a check of ESTC found only a few scattered instances of 18th-century Theatre-Royal playbills, none with more than one holding.

To view the list of PLAYBILLS,  click here.

This GENTLEMAN Highwayman 
      Shown in a LARGE Cut

•  Handsomely illustrated crime-related broadside. A large unsigned engraving (23 x 23.2 cm, 9.25" x 9.25"; h x w) shows a dapper Macleane in the dock in full court while a barrister asks a character witness, "What has your L[adyshi]p to say in favour of the Prison at the Bar?" To which she replies, "My L[or]d, I have had the Pleasure to know him well, he has often been about my House & I never lost any thing." Below the engraving is the caption cited above and the imprint information, and below the platemark is text in triple-column format, containing a transcription of Macleane's statement in his defense, a description of him and his demeanor, an account of his crimes and how he was discovered despite having worn a Venetian mask, and details of his sentence.
Single-click the image for an enlargement.

The celebrity of this criminal led to several accounts being published about him and some engravings being created of him and depicting his crimes. All engravings, broadsides, and pamphlets about him are scarce, several rare. As regards this broadside, we find only two other copies (at the Society of Antiquaries Library and the British Library, both in London).

•  ESTC T187880. Old folds with minimal and short fold tears. Lower outside edge crumpled with small tears, now flattened and repaired. Evidence of having been mounted on a large sheet of 19th-century paper. A very good copy of a very scarce and visually attractive broadside.

New City, New Name

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•  Following the ruin of the Santiago de los Caballeros by the big earthquake of 1773, the capital of Guatemala was moved to the location of the present site of Guatemala City. In this rare document the Captain General notifies the citizenry that the king has named the new city Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción. Mayorga also proclaims that the provisional building site known as La Hermita is now a neighborhood of the new city. All should begin using the new name immediately.

Signed by Mayorga in type and with his rubric (i.e. paraph).

•  Medina, Guatemala, 400 (having seen only a copy in a private collection).   Upper margin irregular with loss of paper due to damp damage, not touching text or printer's ornament. Three small wormholes in lower margin. A good exemplar of a rare and romantic item.  (3832)

Lord Save Us — An AttractiveSMALL Broadside

(Medical Prayer).

•  This prayer, in poetic form, is against an unspecified epidemic and is printed on wove paper within an ornamental border, in double-column format with the columns separated by double lines of entwined opening and closing parentheses. An extremely rare ephemerum, it was probably sold outside churches, to theworried devout.

•  Slightly irregular margins, as issued. Handsome.

Improving Things inNew Mexico, 1823

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•  In the wake of the overthrow of Emperor Iturbide, the northern provinces sought to have Congress redefine jurisdictional boundaries. They also sought to obtain special privileges and status.

In this decree Congress addresses several matters touching Sinaloa, Sonora, Durango, and New Mexico. With specific reference to New Mexico, Congress orders the creation of the bishopric of New Mexico with vicars in Santa Fe, Paso del Norte, and Chihuahua; and in another clause it grants New Mexico total exemption from sales tax on locally grown produce and locally manufactured goods.

This copy is one of the states' printings (i.e., the state of Mexico, dated 24 July).

•  As issued, with some later folds; a few pin-type worm holes not costing letters. Very Good.  (24106)

Censoring the Clergy

•  This ministerial order is a copy of the message from the Secretario de Estado y del Despacho of 10 June 1813 from Cadiz, forwarded to the viceroy of New Spain by Juan O'Donoju four days later. It reminds the clergy of Spain and Spanish America that Law 7, Title 8, Book 1 of the Novísima recopilación de leyes de Indias calls for obedience to the king, and that any clergyman who "dares utter insulting or ugly words against the King or royal persons or against the state or government, shall be arrested and bound over to royal authority." Churchmen had been outspokenly critical of the Royalist government at Cadiz, and even the example of the executed Hidalgo did not deter the clerics in their quest for change. This decree was printed in Mexico City and is dated in text 12 January 1814.

This copy printed on blue paper. Uncommon: NUC locates only two copies (at the Bancroft and the John Carter Brown libraries).

•  Garritz, Impresos novohispanos, 1917; not in Harper, Americana Iberica.

OnLOCAL Reinvestment

•  The viceroy publishes a letter from the Secretary of State concerning local reinvestment of tax revenues. This publication is dated in text as Mexico, 15 September 1789.

•  Not in Medina, Mexico; nor González de Cossío, Cien or 510; nor Harper, Americana Iberica. A folded, very good copy. (10667)

Abolishing Slavery & Punishing Texas Rebels

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•  Decree abolishes slavery in the republic and provides for compensation to all slave owners except Texans who had taken part in the revolution.

A states' edition issued in Puebla.

•  Streeter, Texas, 926.1.   Very Good copy, with small holes in inner margin, and one small brown stain in lower margin.  (24621)

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