Search Results: Manuscripts from ARTEM

Confidential diplomatic letter,
laying out the opportunities for a new Dutch-Cuban sugar trade company
Guillermo Lobé (1785-1883).
[Autograph letter signed].
Havana, June 18, 1827.
4to. 13, [3 blank] pp. Ink on laid paper, with a watercolour drawing on a larger 4to loose wove paper sheet dated 1827.
Important confidential manuscript letter by the Dutch-Spanish diplomat Guillermo Lobé, in which he lays out the commercial and geo-political situation of Cuba in detail. The letter is accompanied by a drawing that possibly depicts a valley in Cuba and is dated on verso in ink 1827.
In the densely written 12-page letter he writes to an anonymous "old family friend", who he met in Antwerp. Apparently this friend was was planning to establish a Dutch-Cuban sugar trade company or "Société du Commerce" and asked Lobé to provide him with information about the international trade in Cuba and Havana in particular. Lobé praises the commercial opportunities of the island and predicts a great future for its… Read More

Raynal on Central American colonial history
[Guillaume-Thomas François "Abbé" Raynal (1713-1796)].
Autograph manuscript.
No place, [after 1777-1796].
4°. 1 p. on laid paper with fleur-de-lis watermark. With a loose engraved portrait of Raynal.
Extensive autograph notes in French by Abbé Raynal on William Robertson's history of Central America in The History of America (1777), particularly discussing Mexican early colonial history. This autograph is not signed but based on matches with other signed autographs by Raynal we can safely attribute it to him.Raynal was a leading 18th century opponent of colonialism and slavery, best known for his Histoire philosophique et politique des établissements et du commerce des Européens dans les deux Indes (1770), a veritable encyclopedia of anti-colonialism in the 18th century in which he bitingly denounces slavery. The manuscript that we offer here is a striking example of his method of compiling other authors' works, in this case that of Robertson. Wiliam… Read More

Controversial manuscript on the expulsion of Jesuits from South America
["Ministro di Stato" (= Bernardo Tanucci (1698-1783)?].
Notizie Anecdote.
Italy (Naples?), 1759.
4°, 8 pp. Manuscript in black ink in a notarial hand on 18th century paper.
Ruthlessly anti-Jesuit manuscript, possibly by Bernardo Tanucci: prime minister of Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The text summarizes the events involving the Jesuits in the years 1755-1759, from the controversy over the Paraguayan Missions to the trials for the assassination of Joseph I of Portugal. This autograph is not signed but clues to the identity of the author can be found in a rare 1759 published analysis of the contents of this manuscript, titled Sposizione letteral delle notizie anecdote giustificative della condotta de' MM. RR. PP. Gesuiti nel Paraguai, e nel Portogallo per aggiungere al loro manoscritto di Napoli (Barcelona [= Naples?], Antonio Michele Cervellò). In the second edition of this work (1760, same publisher), editor Alfonso Nicolini… Read More

Manuscript description of inner Algeria 1841-1844
Ménon (1820-?).
Les montagnes de Dj'erf-el-Achard ou la vie d'un jeune soldat en Afrique. Détails sur différentes villes de France et distance d'un endroit à l'autre, le nom des différents bivouacs. Les différentes embarcation et distance.
Algeria, 1841-1844.
12°. 181 pp. With a paper sheet attached to front pastedown.
With pencil drawings depicting plans of a fort on recto of endpaper and a three-master ship on verso. Title-page illustrated in pencil with cacti and palm trees. Also with a gouache and pencil drawing of two Algerian armed men called "zouave" and "indigene" on paper pasted on back pastedown.
Sewn over vellum spine with cardboard sides, the front bearing the number 58.
Long, detailed and illustrated handwritten diary of a French soldier in Algeria, kept from March 22, 1841 until August 15, 1844. The author states on the first page that he was born on July 24, 1820 in the small French village of Gène and his name is Ménon. He does… Read More

Drawn studies of Indian boats in an English manuscript notebook

Cornelius Sanjev (?).
[Manuscript notebook]
Bengal, 1834.
4°. 26 pp., 20 ll. Paper watermarked RTassell 1831.
Manuscript textin ink, with 31 drawings in various inks and pencil.
Contemporary half dark green morocco with marbled sides.
Finely illustrated manuscript notebook of a trip to Bengal, India. The author had a particular interest in the boats that he or she encountered while sailing the rivers of Bengal: the notebook counts 14 large and 4 smaller drawings of various types of indigenous boats. Most were first sketched in pencil and then traced with ink. One drawing is signed with what seems like "Cornelius Sanjev", though we could not identify this person.The manuscript starts off as a ship's log of a journey from Portsmouth, England on Tuesday, March 11, 1834. They passed the Cape of Good Hope on May 15th. The author mentions names and destination of ships they encountered along the way, such as the Minerva from Liverpool bound… Read More