MEXICO - UNA PIÑATA BIBLIOGRÁFICA
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Independence NOW! (& Please Don’t

    Put Me inJail for Saying That)

• In the pamphlet war surrounding the readoption and implementation of the Spanish Constitution, writers were almost invariably disguised behind initials or noms de plume. Some of the “disguises” were thin even then: Writers like Fernández de Lizardi could not hide long behind such flimsy gauze as “El Pensador Mexicano.” But J.A.M. is still not identified.

His concerns here are the use of jail to silence liberal pens, the failure of the Spanish government to give equal status to “americanos,” and the need for Independence to succeed, especially via the Army of the Three Guarantees.

The only copies in the U.S. that we’ve located are at the Sutro and Bancroft libraries.

• Not in Medina, Mexico. Sutro 254; Garritz 4779. Folded as issued, edges chipped; woming in lower margins, old stitching holes, some leaves loose. Light soiling. A decent copy; a survivor.

Noble Orders — American Ones Included Here

•  Offering in encyclopedic form the history of chivalric orders of Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Northern Africa, and the Americas, this volume describes, among others, American orders such as the Society of the Cincinnati (U.S.), Ordem de Cristo (Brazil), Ordem de Aviz (Brazil), Ordem do Cruzeiro (Brazil), Orden de la Cruz de Honor (Guatemala), Légion d'Honneur (Haiti), Ordre de Sainte-Anne (Haiti), Orden de los Libertadores (Venezuela), Orden Nacional (Nicaragua), and Orden de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Mexico).

•  Vicaire, Manuel de l'amateur de livres du XIXème, I, 772. Uncut, mostly unopened copy. Publisher's wrappers, printed in black and red; expectable chipping and with soiling. Some pages lightly spotted; mostly, clean. A decent copy of this (rather fragile!) work.

Michoacán Measured

•  The first published statistical analysis of the Michoacán region of Mexico. After some historical background of an institutional nature, Martínez de Lejarza (1785–1824) launches into a hamlet by hamlet study of population (number of men and women with subsets for married or single or widowed/widowered), livestock, and importantly the climate and natural resources of each place, including crops and fruits raised, and wildlife. Click the image to the left
for an enlargement.

Such statistical publications as this were essential for the government of the newly independent nation, especially for planning purposes and for use when negotiating with bankers for the loans so essential to the nascent nation.

Interestingly, the population statistics ignore distinctions such as “indio,” “mestizo,” etc. The brief paragraphs about the towns and hamlets are filled with facts such as that the nuns of one particular town still wear hats of the Quiroga style.

An observation having nothing to do with the text: The paper on which this work is printed is very thin laid paper with no apparent watermark. The quality is not “European” and this cataloguer (DMS), with nearly 40 years experience with Mexican books, wonders if the paper is from one of Mexico's first paper mills?

•  Palau 155712; not in Sutro. Later 19th-century quarter sheep with stone pattern marbled paper sides. Binding worn, text skewed in binding. Private ownership pressure stamp on title-page.

“Probably the Most Complete & Exhaustive History of Mexico”
Signed Presentation Copy — 48 Plates — ALS Laid In

Click the images above for enlargements.

•  Important history of Mexico, written by the former Secretary of Legation to that country. Thomas Field, source of the plaudit in the caption above, notes that the work “is particularly valuable for its statistics obtained from government documents, regarding the number and tribes of Indians residing in each state . . . of the numerous illustrations, more than forty exhibit some phase in the life, habits, or antiquities of these native tribes.” The total count of plates, including the two frontispieces, is 48 (one double-sided), in addition to the aforementioned numerous in-text illustrations.

This is the second edition, following the first of 1851; the author says in a laid-in letter (see below) that at the time of writing (1867), the work was “altogether out of print.” Other remarks are on the work itself, and Mexico's past, present, and possible future.

Presentation copy:  Inscribed by the author to the Rev. E.A. Dalrymple of Baltimore, MD. In addition to the inscription on the front free endpaper, a three-page letter from the author is laid in at the front of the volume.

•  Allibone 1253 (for first ed.); Brunet 28598; Diccionario Porrúa de historia, biografía y geografía de México (5a ed.), II, 1809; Field 1038; Palau 158999; Sabin 47100.   Publisher's blind-stamped dark brown cloth, front covers with gilt-stamped decorative vignettes, spines with gilt-stamped titles; front cover of vol. II waterstained and warped with cloth starting to split along joint, back cover of vol. I with adhesions, corners rubbed, spine extremities chipped, spines sunned and with paper shelving labels. Front pastedown of vol. I with old affixed cataloguing; front free endpaper with inscription as above; front pastedowns of both vols. institutionally rubber-stamped. Offsetting from frontispieces onto title-pages; intermittent light browning and spotting. A few gatherings in vol. II unopened; some upper outer corners dog-eared. Despite condition “issues,” a significant work in a presentation set accompanied by a significant little letter.  (24443)

New City, New Name

Click the image for enlargement.

•  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

Click the image for an enlargement.

•  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)

Garay's Tehuantepec Folly

•  A full and clear statement of the facts concerning the privilege that Gen. Santa Anna granted to Jose Garay in 1842 and subsequent events, chicanery, etc. It is interesting to note that this is in English.

•  Publisher's blue wrappers — front and back shown in our images. A few short tears. An excellent copy.  (24449)

A Viceroy Empowers“Vigilante” Rule

•  The viceroy has appointed Jacinto Martínez de Concha to be the alcalde provincial of the Santa Hermandad, the all-powerful "vigilante" authority in remote regions of the Spanish empire. In this particular case the region is Nueva Galicia and Nueva Vizcaya. And the viceroy here requires local officials in those regions to swear acknowledgment of and obedience to that appointment. Dated in text, at end, 4 April 1756 and bearing the wooden-stamped signature of the viceroy.

•  Medina, Mexico, 4305 (never having seen a copy). In recent wrappers. Some bleed-through from rear to front due to heavy inking, but all still quite legible. (10742)

On LOCAL 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)

New“Stamping” Style

•  Under the leadership of President Lerdo de Tejada a new law is enacted replacing stamped paper with the issuance of revenue stamps to be affixed to documents and books legally required to be taxed.

•  Not in Sutro. Sewn; original plain wrappers, lacking the front one. Library pencilling in preparation for cataloging, but no stamps.

Tax Matters 1756

•  Two related decrees concerning changes in the sales tax rates. One is dated 18 July and the other 11 November 1756, in text, at end.

•  Removed from a bound volume and with a few fold tears; irregular in inner margin. A few stray stains. now housed in a quarter cloth (faux leather) folder with marbled paper sides.

Constituciones with an Important & Useful Overview of 110
Years ofMexican Intellectual History

Mexico (Viceroyalty).

•  By 1775 the first edition of the university constitution was a rare book but demand for it was significant, so a reprint was brought out. And an important change was made to this second edition of the rules, regulations, and constitution of the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico: While the main text of the first edition is faithfully reprinted, the original preface is deleted and a new one substituted. It gives a marvelous overview of those who were perceived to have been the intellectual giants of Mexico during the period 1660–1770: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Doña Ana María del Costado de Cristo, Juan José de Eguiara y Eguren, Antonio Guillén de Castro, José Ignacio Bartolache, and so on. Additionally, the anonymous but very knowledgeable author of the preface gives a detailed essay on the architecture of the university and its art work in all of its manifestations: sculpture, paintings, retablos, tapestries, etc.

Although the university was founded in 1551 and began offering classes in 1553, its rules and practices were not published until 1668: Various manuscript compilations of the rules had been gathered during the first hundred years of the institution, but it fell to Bishop Palafox to undertake the definitive compilation and to initiate the publication of the results, which did not see light of day until after his death. It is his omnium gatherum that the body of this volume offers.

•  Medina, Mexico, 5836; Palau 6067; not in Harper, Americana Iberica; not in Maggs, Bibl. Amer. 20th-century quarter calf with marbled paper sides and endpapers. All edges carmine. Paper clean and crisp. A lovely copy.

SILVER MINING — Mexico & Peru

•  Royal decrees relating to mining in New Spain: discovery of new mines, operation of old ones, training of workers and royal officials, duties of experts, introduction of new technology, role of the Tribunal de la Minería and the requirements (including purity of blood) for appointment to it, and many more aspects of this important economic activity.

The work was carefully compiled and indexed by José de Galvez, originally printed in Madrid in 1783 and here in the first printing to take place in a viceroyalty. Sabin calls this work a "rare and valuable compendium of the old mining laws and mineral customs."

Galvez was a special commissioner charged with making reforms in the governing of Mexico; his work greatly influenced the 1786 replacement of the Mexican provinces with 12 intendencias.

The 18th century saw a rebirth of the Mexican and the Peruvian silver industry as new technologies and techniques were introduced. Concomitant with the increased production was increased wealth for the mine owners and the crown.

•  Palau 251938a; Medina, Lima, 1636; Sabin 56260. Recent calf bordered in gilt tooling, spine with gilt bands and floral devices in compartments, gilt-stamped leather title label; a few very small scuffs to covers. All edges sprinkled blue and red. Title-page recto and verso with inked ownership inscriptions in an early hand. Final leaf with repairs to outer edge; penultimate two leaves with lower corners torn away, outer edge of one with small chewed portion. Occasional spots of foxing. Two worm pinholes to title-page; more extensive worming to inner margins of central 20 leaves, on some pages touching text without affecting comprehensibility. Handsome.

Apologia Pro Vita Sua

Click the interior images for enlargements.

•  Montenegro Colón had been vilified for his adherence to the Spanish cause and here, after receiving news while in exile on Curaçao that the Venezuelan congress was allowing his repatriation, provides an “apologia pro vita sua.”

Front wrapper reads: “Mexico y Cuba; apuntes históricos.”

Apparently scarce: OCLC has a record for this but with no library holdings given. Searches of the University of Texas and University of California OPACs failed to find this publication.

•  20th-century Mexican red calf binding. Title in gilt on front cover. Original wrappers bound in. Front free endpaper torn out exposing inner hinge; waterstaining particularly visible to first leaves, faint to later ones. (21513)

Estate Law

•  Montiel seeks to have set aside the civil decision of 26 November 1856 against Silvestre López Tello and his sister Guadalupe, in the matter of the estate of Teodoro López Tello.

•  Sutro 908. Removed from a nonce volume.

BUILDER of the FIRSTNew World Utopian Community

Click the interior images for enlargements.

•  In the 18th century Mexico saw a birth of great biographical writing focusing on important figures in its history, especially its ecclesiastical history. Vasco de Quiroga (1470–1565) was an imposing and perhaps quixotic figure during the early post-Conquest decades. A learned man, he arrived in Mexico in 1531 as one of the first four judges of the high court (i.e., oidores) and became the first bishop of the far western province of Michoacan. In that “out of the way” region of Mexico he devoted himself to establishing European culture, ensuring fair treatment of the indigenous population, creating towns and cities, and building the first utopian community in the New World.

Not the least of his accomplishments was the creation of two pueblo-hospitals for native Americans, and appended and integral to this biography are his “Reglas, y ordenanzas para el gobierno de los Hospitales de Santa Fé de México, y Michoacàn,” which occupy the final 29 pages.

Historians still consider this to be the definitive biography of Quiroga. The engraved portrait of him, handsome and from the burin of José Morales, adds a face to the words of the biographer and to the account of the deeds of the biographee.

•  Medina, Mexico, 5099; Wellcome, Medical Americana, M.134; Palau 181902; Beristain, III, 2059.   Contemporary limp vellum lacking ties. A very good copy.  (23061)

TO Part VII . . .

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