
MEXICO - UNA PIÑATA BIBLIOGRÁFICA
Una de nuestras especialidades mayores - If you collect in this area, let us know!
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Doing Business in Mexico in 1834
Quesedo, Tomas. Autograph Letter Sisgned, in Spanish, on paper, to Abraham Miller. Mexico City: 13 October 1834. Small 4to, [2] pp.
$125.00


We Have
NOTHING to Hope for from SPAIN
Ramírez, José Miguel. [drop-title] Nada hay que esperar de España, ó Esposicion que leyó el sr. d. José Miguel Ramirez en la sesion del 25 de junio de 1821. [colophon: México: Impr. Imperial de A. Valdés, 1821]. Small 4to (19 cm; 7.5"). 15, [1(blank)] pp.
$500.00
Sitting in the Cortes in Spain, Ramírez proposes reforming the Spanish consititution to make it work effectively in Spanish America. An important, last-ditch plea that died after leaving his lips (or pen), as
just three months later Mexico achieved independence.
Click the image for an enlargement.
Garritz 5198; Sutro 270; not in Medina, Mexico; not in Steele. Removed from a nonce volume. Numeral in ink in upper margin of first page. (24535)

St. Augustine by a Spanish Augustinian — A Copy That Travelled to Mexico
& Was
“Upgraded” There
Ribera, Francisco de. Vida del admirable doctor de la iglesia S. Augustin, fundador de la orden de los ermitaños, que por su nombre se llaman Augustinos. Sacada a luz de sus mesmas obras. Madrid: Bernardo de Villa-Diego, 1684. 4to (19.7 cm, 7.75"). [24], 532, [20 (index)] pp.; 1 plt.
$500.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Sole, scarce edition: Life of St. Augustine, along with the founding of the Augustinian orders. The author here, “El Padre Fray Francisco de Ribera,” does not appear to be either the Jesuit monk (1537–1591) known for his commentary on Revelation or the Father Commissary of New Spain, both of the same name, but rather a member of the Augustinian monastery of San Felipe de Madrid who died in 1705 (according to NUC Pre-1956).
This copy has had a later, very engaging portrait of the saint as a young man (“joven”) added: The copper-engraved plate, done after an original “se conserva en grande estimacion en Milan,” is dated 1784 and signed by
Mexican artist and engraver Manuel Villavicencio (1730 – ca. 1788), clearly demonstrating this book travelled to Mexico for use there and for minor “grangerizing.” (It also neatly demonstrates that Mexican artists of this era were not benighted backwoodsmen, but worked confidently as citizens of a larger, international artistic world.)
Searches of WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only one U.S. institutional holding (at Villanova, this country's oldest Augustinian foundation).
Palau 266890. Contemporary vellum, spine with early inked title; vellum wrinkled and moderately dustsoiled, back outer corners damaged with loss, one tie partially intact. Early inked inscription on title-page verso, lined through and illegible and showing through; title-page tipped back in and, like several others, with edge chips or tears from margins; two leaves torn at inner margins with loss of several words, one leaf torn largely across without loss, last leaf with loss of a few words of text at lower outer corner. Small area of worming to upper outer corners of most leaves, touching a very few shouldernotes but not otherwise affecting text; last few leaves with worming in lower inner margins, affecting a few letters on some pages; captions mostly shaved (but not shaved away) by the binder's knife. One signature separated. Portrait torn halfway across, well repaired some time ago, with chips from outer and lower margins just reaching edge of plate (not image). Pages age-toned with mostly-light spotting. A somewhat battered but still respectable survivor, with the plate addition being particularly intriguing. (29118)

Catholic Catechism in Aztec — First Edition — Excellent Provenance
Ripalda, Gerónimo. Catecismo mexicano. Mexico: Impr. de la Bibliotheca Mexicana, 1758. 16mo. [17] ff., 170 pp., [1] f.
$3500.00
Click the images for enlargements.
The first edition of Father Ignacio de Paredes's translation of Father Ripalda's Spanish-language catechism into Nahuatl. Both men were Jesuits, but in different centuries and on different continents: Ripalda was born in Spain in 1535 and died in 1618, never having left Europe; Paredes was born in Mexico in 1703 and died there the year this book was published, hailed as one of the most important Nahuatl scholars of the period.
Beristain describes Paredes as being “outstanding in the Mexican language.” His volume was intended for use by missionaries, by parish priests, and by Indians: Indeed, there is a prologue intended to persuade Indians in particular to read and learn this catechism.
The volume is illustrated with woodcut arms on verso of second title-page and many woodcut initials and tailpieces throughout. This copy retains Ortuño engraved frontispiece (often
missing) of St. Francis.
Provenance: Henry Ward Poole ownership signature in minute pencil on rear free endpaper, dated Mexico 1879; old paper auction label at top of spine with lot number; private ownership stamp and bookplate of John Carter Brown; later in the John Carter Brown Library, Providence; deaccessioned.
Garcia Icazbalceta, Lenguas, 56; Viñaza 341; H. de León-Portilla, Tepuztlahcuilolli, 2286; Palau 269110; Medina, Mexico, 4500; DeBacker-Sommervogel, VI, 210–211; Sabin 71488; Leclerc 2334; Pilling, Proof-sheets, 2891. 19th-century Mexican acid-stained calf, gilt roll of a rope design on boards; gilt spine extra; spine label defective and missing much leather. Title-pages closely cropped at foremargin not costing any letters; small piece torn from the frontispiece. Light to moderate waterstaining and light wear. A rather decent copy of a decidedly important work. (26388)

A Veteran's Perspective, with Maps
Ripley, Roswell Sabine. The war with Mexico. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1849. 8vo (24.2 cm, 9.5"). 2 vols. I: [2], [xiii]–524 pp.; 4 plts. II: 650, 14 (adv.) pp.; 10 plts.
$300.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First
edition: Early, extensive military history
of the Mexican-American War by a soldier who had served as a brevet major during
that war, and later as a brigadier general of the Confederate States Army during
the Civil War. Contemporary critics pointed out Ripley's bias in favor of General
Pillow and against General Scott, but generally acknowledged this work as the
best of the accounts issued immediately following the war.
The two volumes are illustrated with a total of
14
maps of important battle locations.
Howes R311; Sabin 71530. Publisher's ribbed brown cloth,
covers with blind-stamped foliate frames surrounding publisher's arabesque
cartouche, spines with gilt-stamped title and blind-stamped decorative bands;
corners rubbed, spine heads chipped and reinforced with brown cloth tape,
lower board edges showing very faint water damage, lower back cover of vol.
I and lower front cover of vol. II slightly warped, endpapers stained by bleed-through
of binder's glue. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplates, call
number on endpapers, rubber-stamp on title-pages and a few others, no other
markings. Vol. I: Two plates with small spots of light staining; light waterstaining
to lower outer corners of a few leaves, including one plate. Vol. II: mild
waterstaining to lower portions, extending into text; signatures in latter
portion unopened. A slightly rough copy, still solid and readable and decent
on shelf. (29427)
Printed
by
Lydia
Bailey
First
Edition Uncut,
Untrimmed
Robinson, William Davis. Memoirs of the Mexican
revolution: Including a narrative of the expedition of General Xavier Mina....
Philadelphia: Pr. for the author, [by] Lydia R. Bailey, pr., 1820. 8vo (28.4
cm, 9.25"). xxxvi, 396 pp.
$850.00
Click the interior image for an enlargement.
First edition of a highly important eye-witness account
of Mexico during the late years of its wars for Independence. Robinson was one
of the first U.S. writers on Mexican matters and here provides the first detailed
information in English on General Mina's expedition against the royalist forces
of Mexico, launched from the Southern U.S. Robinson also broaches here the possibility
of a trans-isthmian canal through Nicaragua.
Shoemaker 3035; Sabin 72202; this edition not in Palau. Contemporary
boards, rebacked with paper in the style of the era; original paper label
reapplied. Uncut copy with edges untrimmed. Library bookplate with stamps
on it, but no other institutional markings.

Death Dead Priests & Salvation
Rojas y Andrade, Francisco. Sermon funebre predicado en la santa iglesia gatedral [sic] de Méjico e dia 26 de enero de 1821 en el aniversario de los venerables sacerdotes. Méjico [i.e., Mexico]: En la oficina de D. Alejandro Valdés, 1821. 4to (20 cm; 8"). [4] ff., 19, [1 (blank)] pp.
$375.00
Sermon by the provincial prior of the Order of Preachers discussing death, dead priests, and salvation — topics of interest to many as the war for independence, with its heavy casualties, wound down. (At least two library databases list this author's name with the alternate spelling of “Roxas.”)
Click the image for enlargement.
Medina, Mexico, 12092; Garritz, Impresos novohispanos, 5236. Sewn, in plain wrappers, lacking the front one. A clean copy. (24850)
Roque de la Serna, Fray. Autograph Manuscript Signed, in Spanish, on paper. Oaxaca, Mexico, September, 1656. Small 4to, 9 pp.
$850.00
Detailed here are the accounts of the income and payments of the province of San Hipólito Martir of the Order of Preachers in Oaxaca, Mexico, for the twelve month period September, 1655, through August, 1656. The accounts are detailed and specific.
Single-click the image,
for an enlargement.
Seventeenth-century manuscripts from Oaxaca are rare in the marketplace.
Written in a clear clerical hand. Leaves separated from each other, but in very good condition.
For
our MSS in SPANISH: Click here.

Let's NOT Bring Back
the Inquisition
S., Y. O. Anecdota importante relativa a la Inquisicion de España, y varias reflexiones sobre el mismo asunto. Mejico: Impr. de D.M. Ontiveros, 1820. Small 4to. 35, [1 (blank)] pp.
$375.00
Strong but not rabid anti-Inquisition thoughts, expressed in 63 numbered paragraphs. Also addresses the question of freedom of the press and its intersection with the role of the Inquisition in barring unapproved ideas. A good contribution to the history of Human Rights.
Uncommon: OCLC locates only the copies at the Bancroft and Chilean National libraries; although, clearly, there is or was one in the Sutro Library.
Sutro 175. Removed from a nonce volume. A good clean copy. (21742)

Important Biography of a
Scholar of the Tarascan
& Matlaltzinga Languages
Salguero, Pedro. Vida del venerable padre y exemplarissimo varon el maestro Fr. Diego Basalenque, Provincial que fue de la Provincia de San Nicolas de Mechoacan del Orden de N.P.S. Agustin. Roma: En la Imprenta de los Herederos de Barbielini, 1761. 8vo (21.5 cm; 8.5" ). xvi, 194 pp.
$1300.00
Second edition (first was Mexico, 1664) of the standard biography of Father Basalenque (1577–1651), the Provincial of the Augustinians in Michoacan and the author of Arte de la lengua tarasca, the best colonial-era grammar of the Tarascan (Purépecha) language, and of Historia de la Provincia de San Nicolás de Tolentino de Michoacán, del Orden de N.P.S. Agustín, the respected history of his order in Michoacan. He was also an accomplished student of the Matlatltzinga language, leaving unpublished (until the 20th century) several manuscripts.
Click the images for enlargements.
This work discusses his humility, obedience to the Agustinian rule and vows, and in part his work among the native population.
This second edition additionally contains Lucas Centeno's compilation of the documents relating to the reinterment of Fr. Basalenque's remains in the Convento de Santa María de Gracia in Valladolid (now Morelia), Mexico.
Sabin 75779; Palau 287455; Medina, BHA, 3996. Contemporary limp vellum with remnants of ties. Rodent damage to binding (bits devoured especially at back cover fore-edge) and some nibbling to lower edge of closed book (not anywhere near the text). Clean, solid, unwormed copy. (28616)

Plate by Araoz
San Pedro, José María de. Apologia de Santa Teresa de Jesus, que dirige a las rr. mm. carmelitas descalzas de la ciudad de Mexico. Mexico: La oficina de Ontiveros, 1812. 8vo. [4] ff., plt., 44 pp.
$750.00
Click the images for enlargements.
This is the
first and only edition of a well-written and footnoted biography of St. Teresa de Jesús. It seeks to rebut negative criticisms and actual charges of harboring vice that had been contained in some 18th-century peninsular publications.
Neither Medina, nor Palau, nor Garritz, nor the cataloguer for the NUC Pre-1956 entry notes a plate as present. The engraved plate in our copy, which is signed “Araoz M.o,” shows St. Teresa kneeling in prayer in her garden. In the background are a lake or a river and a mountain. Christ is seen off to the right, emerging from a stand of trees near the water. In front of the saint are some flowers and other cultivated plants which are being watered by an irrigation system fed by a well; two symbolic doves and a yearning (or dedicated) heart also appear. Below the engraving is a quotation from Ecclesiastes that the saint used in her writings.
The engraver was Manuel de Aráoz, one of the first students of the Mexican Academy of Painting, a noted engraver, and later subdirector of the Academy's department of engraving.
Medina, Mexico, 10812; Palau 293431; Garritz 1569. On the engraver, see: Diccionario Porrúa de historia, biografía y geografía de México (5a ed.), I, 165. Without the plain wrappers one expects. Three pin-type wormholes affecting some pages, including the plate, not offensively. Discoloration along inner margin of title-page; soiling affecting edges/margins variably; upper outer portions of title-leaf, last two text leaves, and final blank most affected. Ample-margined copy. (27616)
Sardó, Joaquín. Relación histórica y moral de la portentosa imagen de N. Sr. Jesucristo crucificado aparecido en una de las cuevas de S. Miguel de Chalma, hoy real convento y santuario de este nombre, de religiosos ermitaños de N.G.P. y doctor S. Agustin, en esta Nueva España, y en esta provincia del santísimo nombre de Jesús de México. Con los compendios de las vidas de los dos venerables religiosos legos y primeros anacoretas de este santo desierto, F. Bartolomé de Jesús María, y F. Juan de San Josef. [Mexico]: Casa de Arizpe, 1810. Small 4to. [7] ff., 386 pp., plt.
$950.00

One has here the standard and well-thought-of account of the Sanctuary of Jesus Christ at Chalma, the second most visited pilgrimage site in Mexico. The cave housing the Christ Crucified statue was a pre-Columbian sacred site and pilgrimage destination; miraculously the pre-Columbian statue with magical healing power morphed into the Christ image soon after it was visited by early Augustinian friars, who took over the cave and the surrounding area and build a church and religious compound. The original Christ statue was destroyed by fire in the 18th century.
Click either image for an enlargement.
In addition to the wealth of information here about the origins of the cave as a site of miracles, its history throughout the colonial period, and accounts of miracles occurring there, this work also has important
biographies of Augustinians of the 17th century who played important roles in the care and perpetuation of the site.
The engraving shows the cave, the Christ figure, pilgrims, and Augustinian friars.
Palau 302085; Medina, Mexico, 10516. 19th-century mottled sheep, abraded, missing spine label; spine is cracking down center, and volume may sometime split into two halves. Some brown stains, most notable in inner and upper or lower margins; lower outside corner of title–page neatly excised. Old ink notes and scribblings.

A Classic
GERMAN
View of America:
John Carter Brown's Copy
Schröter, Johann Friedrich. Algemeine Geschichte der Länder und Völker von America. Halle: Johann Justinus Gebauer, 1752–53. 4to (24.8 cm, 9.75"). 2 vols. I: [46], 688 pp.; 2 plts. II: [22], 905 (i.e., 907), [63 (index)] pp.; 2 maps, 2 fold. maps (out of 8 maps & 60 plts. total).
$1500.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition
of this descriptive overview of the New World, sponsored by German Protestant
theologian Siegmund Jakob Baumgarten and compiled by Johann Friedrich Schröter,
who translated and incorporated much of Lafitau's Moeurs des sauvages Américains,
among other sources. The black-letter text is ornamented with decorative capitals,
head- and tailpieces, and (in this copy) six copper-engraved plates (of the
original larger number, see collation); present here are maps of “Hayti,”
San Domingo, Mexico, and “die Mexicanische See,” and plates XII
(antiquities representing deities) and XIV (two ceremonial activities).
Along with its accounts of native religions and customs, and its discovery and exploration narratives, the work includes a section on chocolate (“ein Geschenk, das Mexico den Europäern gemacht,” p. 333), potatoes, cassava, and other New World food items, as well as beers and wines.
Provenance: Private bookplate
on pastedowns and ownership stamp of John Carter Brown on first leaf of preliminaries
and elsewhere. On his death to his son John Nicholas Brown (1861–1900).
On his death deeded to the John Carter Brown Library. Deaccessioned 2008.
Howes S200; Library Company, Afro-Americana, 9182; Sabin 77989. 19th-century half brown morocco and marbled paper–covered boards, spines with gilt-stamped titles and bands; moderately rubbed. Front pastedowns each with private bookplate of John Carter Brown as above, subsequently rubber-stamped by the library bearing his name (properly deaccessioned), title-pages each with faded early inked inscription (dated 1752 and 1753), sectional title-page of vol. I and first text page of vol. II each with Brown's red signature rubber-stamp. Lacking four maps and 58 plates. Scattered faint foxing and spotting, vol. II with lower portions of front endpapers and first few leaves waterstained, pages overall generally clean. Priced to reflect plate absences — but this is a worthwhile text, complete, solidly bound, and with an interesting association. (29149)

A Local-Use Manual from a
Fine Woman Printer
Segura, José de. Manual de administrar los santos sacramentos de la eucharistia, y extremauncion, y oficiar los entierros, segun el uso, y observacion del Sagrario de la Santa Iglesia Metropolitana desta ciudad. Mexico: Por Doña Maria de Benavides, Viuda de Juan de Ribera, 1697. Small 8vo. [5] ff., 130 pp., [2] ff.
$2225.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Specifically designed for use of the Bethlemite Order in its convents and hospitals in Mexico, based specifically on the use of the Mexico City Cathedral! Illustrated with
a
full-page woodcut of the Christ in the manger with Mary and Joseph, the volume is from the press of one of Mexico's famous woman printers; Fr. Angel Serra's name is also associated with this volume as its compiler.Searches of WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only four copies in U.S. libraries.
Medina, Mexico, 1680. Contemporary stiff vellum, with “MANUAL” in old lettering on spine; binding stained and darkened, lacking ties, and a little sprung. Title-page soiled with square dark area of staining in lower outer corner extending into the text of the title. Waterstaining to early and late sections, and odd spottings variously; paper yet strong. Withal, a good+ copy of a scarce and important early Mexican medical-related item. (29862)

Presentation Copy — YUCATAN the Arts & Crafts Way!
Seymour, Ralph Fletcher. Across the gulf a narration of a short journey through parts of Yucatan with a brief account of the ancient Maya civilization. Chicago: Alderbrink Press, 1928. 8vo (27.7 cm, 10.9"). 63, [1] pp.; 1 fold. map, illus.
$350.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition: Interesting Mexican travelogue from an artist and author who was the proprietor of Alderbrink Press. Printed in attractive Arts & Crafts style and illustrated with numerous woodcut images by Seymour himself, the volume opens with an oversized, folding map of Yucatan and the surrounding areas.
This is numbered copy 146 of 425 printed, signed at the colophon by the author and additionally inscribed by him to “Professor Harry” on the half-title.
Publisher's half tan cloth and orange paper–covered sides, front cover with design printed in black, spine with printed paper label; lacking the slipcase, binding with old smudges and areas of discoloration, front cover with small scrape, back outer edge with small dent. Minor offsetting from illustrations, pages otherwise clean. (28213)
Sigüenza y Góngora, Carlos de; José María Zelaa é Hidalgo (rev. & ed.). Glorias de Queretaro, en la fundacion y admirables progresos de la muy i. y ven. congregacion eclesiástica de presbiteros seculares de Maria Santisima de Guadalupe de Mexico, con que se ilustra y en el suntuoso templo que dedicó a su obsequio el Br. D. Juan Caballero y Ocio... que en otro tiempo escribio el Dr. D. Cárlos de Sigüenza y Góngora. Mexico: En la oficina de M.J. de Zúñiga y Ontiveros, 1803. Small 4to (19.8 cm; 7.875"). [8] ff., 235, [1] pp., [2] ff., 2 fold. plans. [bound with] Zelaa e Hidalgo, José María. Adiciones al libro de las Glorias de Querétaro, que se imprimió en México el año de mil ochocientos tres. Mexico: Imprenta de Arizpe, 1810. Small 4to (19.8 cm; 7.875"). [6] ff., 94 pp., [2] ff.
$11,000.00
Click any image above for an enlargement.
In 1680, in Mexico City, the Mexican polymath Sigüenza y Góngora (1645–1700) published the first edition of this highly important work of art history. Recounting the great celebrations surrounding the dedication of the “temple of Our Lady of Guadalupe” in Querétaro that the priest Juan Caballero y Ocio had built and donated, it not only describes the festivities in detail (“Frailes, monjas, gigantes, tarascas, cofradías,
mulatos, indios, todos en la celebración’), but is profuse and precise in telling of the nature and minutia of the art within the temple.
Extraordinarily difficult to find today, that 1680 work was already rare and hard to obtain by the beginning of the 19th century — so José María Zelaa e Hidalgo decided, in the first years of the century before last, to bring out a new edition with some editorial revision and additions. This he accomplished in 1803. Zelaa was a zealous historian of his home town of Querétaro, and the combination of his scholarship with Sigüenza's earlier scholarship made this second edition of the latter’s work a true advance. Then, in 1810, Zelaa brought out a volume entirely made up of his own reportings, and that volume is here bound with his 1803 edition of Sigüenza.
The pairing of Zelaa’s two efforts in one volume is both uncommon and intellectually reinforcing. But here, it is more than that: It is a personal memento of a life’s work as well, for
this copy bears the bookplate of the editor himself.
Provenance: Bookplate of José María Zelaa é Hidalgo. 20th-century rubber-stamp with initials only of a private Mexican collector.
Sigüenza: Medina, Mexico, 9637; Palau 312964. Zelaa: Medina, Mexico, 10540; Garritz 940; not in Palau. Publisher's sheep, gilt spine; small amount of leather missing from base of spine. Collector’s stamp partly offset to title-page; otherwise, the occasional stray stain only.
“Association copies” don’t get much more “associated” than this.
Classic
History of
MEXICO — FIRST
Edition in
ENGLISH
(A TALL
FOLIO) (A Reader's
Copy)
Solís, Antonio de. The history
of the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. Done into English...by Thomas Townsend.
London: Pr. for T. Woodward, & J. Hooke, 1724. Tall folio. [9] ff., 163,
[1 (blank)], 252, 152 pp.
$600.00
Many editions of Solís's eminently readable history have
come down the pike since the first appeared in Madrid in 1684. The present one
is the first edition in English. Solís was an official court historian
and as such had access not only to published sources but also to archival sources
not previously used. Despite writing while the Baroque era flourished in Spain,
his prose is remarkably unornamented or convoluted. This clarity of style when
combined with the stirring and near-mythic events of the conquest of Mexico
has accounted for the hundreds of editions that have come down to us.
Sabin 86487; Medina, Biblioteca hispano-americana, 1773n;
Palau 318693; European Americana 724/165. Recent quarter calf, antique
style: Round spine with raised bands accented with gilt rules and beading;
gilt center devices; marbled paper sides. Ex-library copy with stamps. First
few leaves crumpled in lower margins; last dozen leaves foxed, sometimes heavily.
Lacks
all plates and maps except one map — yet pleasing to the reader.
For
Books for the BUSTED
BIBLIOPHILE, click
here.
The KEYSTONE
of Hispanic-American
Colonial Law
A Very
HANDSOME
Edition
Spain.
Laws, statutes, etc. Recopilacion de leyes de los reinos
de las Indias. Madrid: Boix, 1841. Small folio. 4 vols. in 2. I: [6]
ff., 335, [1 (blank)] pp. II: [1] f., 334 (i.e., 332) pp., [1 (index) f. III:
[1] f., 319, [1 (blank)] pp., [1] f. IV:[1] f., 147, [1 (blank)] pp., [1] f.;
105, [1], 31, [1] pp. (all indices).
$2150.00
Click
the interior images for enlargements.
Handsome mid-19th century edition of the first comprehensive
compilation of the laws of the Spanish Indies. Antonio Rodríguez
de León Pinello compiled it by 1635, but it circulated only in manuscript
until Fernando Jiménez de Paniagua brought it up to date and saw the
result through the press in 1681. Prior to the publication of this massive work,
it was common practice for lawyers and courts in the various legal districts
of the New World (i.e., audiencias) to compile in manuscript the laws
in force in order that they might be used as precedents. Upon publication of
this code, the number of precedents did not (as might have been expected) decrease
via "regularization" but instead increased: The courts continued to accept the
cases and laws on point in the old local manuscript compilations and also
those contained in the Recopilación!
In sum, this is a major work for all collections of international and Hispanic-specific
law. The first edition is very uncommon in today's marketplace, meaning most
scholars and collectors must settle for a later edition, such as this fifthwhich
has the happy advantage of being
handsomely
printed in double-column format. This copy is attractively
bound, as well.
Palau 137466; Sabin 68390. Victorian acid-stained sheep with
gilt spines extra. Marbled edges. Tape adhered to one title-page at inner
margin. Ownershjp signatures on title-page. A nice set.

Ecclesiastical
Abuses
Spain.
Sovereign (1788–1808, Charles IV). Broadside. Begins: “Miguel
la Grua y Talamanca y Branciforte ... Deseoso S. M. de ocurrir a los desordenes
que habia llegado a su real nticial se cometian en los sedes vacantes en la
concesion de dimisorias ... se ha dignado prevenir lo que acerca de estos puntos
debe obxervarse, en la real cedula cuyo tenor es....” [Mexico City: No
publisher/printer], 1797. Folio (42 cm.; 16.875"). [1] f.
$750.00
Viceroy Branciforte publishes the royal decree of 29 December 1796
concerning vacant ecclesiastical posts, judicial review of clerics' performance
in office, etc. The Mexico City printing is dated 29 August 1797.
Click
the image for an enlargement.
No
copies traced via WorldCat.
Not in Medina, Mexico. Very good condition. (27951)
War
& Taxes
& Exceptions
Spain.
Sovereign (1788–1808, Charles IV). Broadside. Begins:
“Miguel la Grua y Talamanca y Branciforte ... En real orden de 13 de mayo
último....” [Mexico City: No publisher/printer], 1797. Folio (42
cm.; 16.875"). [1] f.
$650.00

The continued unplanned-for costs of participating in the War of the First Coalition (attempting to contain the French Revolution) are causing tax increases but the king has decided to exept “lanzas y medias-anatas de los titulos.”
Click the image for an enlargement.
Not in Medina, Mexico. Very good condition. (27952)

Troublesome Soldiers to Face
Criminal Courts
Spain. Sovereigns (1788–1808, Charles IV). Broadside, begins: “El Rey. -- Para evitar en lo sucesivo las disputas entre los Gefes de los Cuerpos de mi Exército en Indias con las Audiencias.... Mexico: No publisher/printer, 1800. Folio. [1] p.
$250.00

Mexico City printing of the royal decree of 31 August 1799 in which the crown declares null and void the use of the fuero militar in cases of mutiny, attempted mutiny, and rebellion. He orders that all such cases fall under the jurisdiction of the audiencias and not the military courts.
Not in Medina, Mexico; not in González de Cossío, Cien; not in not in González de Cossío, 510. Removed from a nonce volume. Left margin irregular. (25824)
Legal
Age for
Marrying
Spain.
Sovereigns (1788–1808, Charles IV).
Begins: Don Carlos ... Con fecha de diez de Abril de este año
he tenido a bien expedir mi Real Decreto del tenor siguiente.” [Madrid:
No publisher/printer, 1803]. Folio. [4] pp. (last blank).
$250.00

Clarification of an earlier royal decree concerning legal marriage age for “españoles” outside of Spain (and who were not orphans) was required and obtained from the
courts. Now the king orders local officials in the Spanish Empire to obey and publish the original decree with its amendments.
Signed by the crown with a wooden stamp, “Yo el Rey.”
This copy sent to Santiago, Chile, and docketed there.
Removed from a nonce volume. Clean and untattered. (25817)
Spain.
Sovereigns, etc., 1808–33 (Ferdinand VII). Broadside.
Begins: “Don Francisco Xavier Venegas...`Exmô, Señor
= La Regencia del Reyno se ha servido dirigirme el Decreto que sigue...Deseando
las Córtes generales y extraordinarias facilitar á los súbditos
Españoles, que por qualquiera línea traigan su orígen del
Africa, el estudio de las ciencias, y el acceso á la carrera eclesiástica....’”
Mexico, 25 September 1812. Folio extra (48 cm; 17.25"). [1] p.
$8775.00

First New World printing of a
major human rights act. The decree granting all Spanish
subjects of African heritage the right to an education through the university
and post-graduate level and the right to take orders and habits in the clergy.
Click
the image to the right
for an enlargement.
While Ferdinand VII remained the prisoner of Napoleon, the Regency promulgated
several important human rights acts, and this was one of the most important.
The Regency ratified and published it 29 January and on 31 January it was
ordered distributed throughout the empire.
Not in Medina, Mexico; not in Garritz, Impresos novohispanos;
not in Sutro. One horizontal fold, top margin a little crumpled and irregular;
left margin with a V-shaped bit of blank margin missing at fold, otherwise
only a little irregular. Revenue stamps on the verso. Viceroy Venegas’s
paraph (“rúbrica”) below his printed name.
A
very good copy.
Spain.
Sovereigns, etc., 1808–33 (Ferdinand VII). Broadside.
Begins: “Don Francisco Xavier Venegas...`Exmô. Sr. = ...sabed: que
en las Córtes generales y extraordinarias, congregadas en la Real Isla
de Leon, se resolvió y decretó lo siguiente...Articulo I. Todos
los cuerpos y personas particulares, de qualquiera condicion y estado que sean,
tienen libertad de escribir, imprimir y publicar sus ideas politicas sin necesidad
de licencia, revision ó aprobacion alguna anteriores a la publicacion....”
Mexico, 5 October 1812. Folio extra (48 cm; 17.25"). [1] p.
$8775.00
First New World printing of the 12 November 1810 human rights act
granting freedom of the press to the inhabitants of the Spanish empire. This
20-article decree does set a few limits on the freedom, but none that are onerous,
simply making one liable for slander, sedition, and the like. While Ferdinand
VII remained the prisoner of Napoleon, the Regency promulgated several important
human rights acts; the Regency ratified and published this one 10 November 1810,
but Viceroy Venegas delayed publishing it because of the Hidalgo and other rebellions.
Garritz, Impresos novohispanos, 1612. Not in Medina,
Mexico; not in Sutro. One horizontal fold; right margin a little crumpled.
Revenue stamps on the verso. Viceroy Venegas’s paraph (“rúbrica”)
below his printed name. A very good copy.

A Truly PECULIAR Publication
Spain. Sovereigns. (Ferdinand VII). El Rey ha expedido los decretos siguientes. Puebla: Impreso ... en la oficina del gobierno, 1820.
$475.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Bizarre concatenation of document and newspaper accounts: A royal decree forbidding government employees to receive two salaries, another ending taxes and fiscal impositions of the already abolished Inquisition, a circular from the Minister of War, a news report of a boy in South Carolina who suffered severe burns and how the application of raw cotton helped.
No copy located via NUC Pre-1956 and WoldCat locates only the copy at Yale.
Medina, Puebla, 1842. Folded as issued; never bound. Light foxing. (29988)

Stamped Paper
(Stamp Tax / Papel Sellado). Mexico (Viceroyalty). Laws, statutes, etc. 23 December 1784. [drop-title] Instruccion del papel sellado. [Mexico, 1784]. Folio. 6 pp., [1 (last page blank)] f.
$415.00
Viceroy Güemes y Horcasitas promulgates the guidelines, as written by Lic. Domingo Valcarcel y Baquerizo of the
Royal Audiencia and superintendent of Royal Rents from Stamped Paper, concerning duties on and use of stamped paper.
Not in Medina, Mexico; not in González de Cossío, Cien or 510; not in Harper, Americana Iberica. Removed from a bound volume and left margin slightly irregular; housed in a cloth-backed (faux leather) marbled paper folder.

Printing
in America
BEFORE
the Bay Psalm Book
Szewczyk, David, & Buffington,
Cynthia Davis. Thirty-nine Books and Broadsides Printed in
America before the Bay Psalm Book. Philadelphia: PRB&M,
1988.
$70.00

Printing in North America began not in 1640 in Massachusetts, but
in 1539, in Mexico, at a point in printing history when technique, typography,
and aesthetic norms were widely first-rate. The European printers who came to
the New World to produce the "incunables" and other "early printed" works of
Mexico and Peru maintained the high standards of their homelands in a degree
that astonishes those whose understanding of early American printing has been
based purely on familiarity with the works produced a hundred and more years
later in what is now the U.S.
Thirty-nine Books and Broadsides describes works that well represent
the earliest Mexican printing, the rarities including 14 New World incunabula,
9 only known surviving copies (3 described for the first time), several second
known and several more earliest known copies, and a number of works with woodcut
illustrations all from a major private collection. All entries are
illustrated and provide exact collations; notably, the bibliography provides
the very first accurate system of description for sixteenth-century New World
broadsides.
Cloth bound and limited to 250 copies.

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