Latin American History

5 volumes: Volume 1, ix+584 pages; Volume 2, 603 pages; Volume 3, 527 pages; Volume 4, 694 pages, Volume 5 is the scarce atlas unpagintated with 18 plates and large fold out map. Octavo (9" x 6 1/4"). Bound in half leather with marbled boards. First edition. Orozco y Berra entered the College of mines, and in 1834 was graduated as a topographical engineer. He afterward studied jurisprudence in the seminary at Puebla, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. He was sent to the city of Mexico in 1851 to defend a lawsuit for the state, and in the next year appointed director of the national archives. He was secretary of public works from 1857 till the fall of the Liberal government, and in 1860 was professor of geography and history in the military college. On the return of Juarez to Mexico in 1861, Orozco became assistant secretary of public works, and in the next year took charge of the portfolio, and after the abolition of that office he was commissioned to write a memoir on native languages. In May,… Read More

[xlii]+[blank]+630 pages. Quarto (11" x 7 3/4") bound in original vellum. Second edition after the first published in Madrid in 1601.Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas published Historia general del Mundo, written in the time of Philip II and divided into three parts, each of which is divided into books, and each book into chapters. The first part covers the years from 1559 to 1574 (although it begins with the marriage of Philip II, before his accession, to Mary I of England in 1554) and was published in Madrid in 1601 and in Valladolid in 1606, after which an improved second edition appeared. The second part covers the period from 1575 to 1585 and was published at the same time as the first, also appearing in a later second edition. Finally, the third part was published in Madrid in 1612, and covers the period from 1585 to 1598, ending with the death of the king. In it the author relates the "tumult, rebellions, acts of sedition and treason, uprisings, wars between peoples, captures of cities and… Read More

Inscribed by author to Lewis M Rutherfurd who was an astronomer, and a pioneering astrophotographer and invented instruments including the micrometer for measuring photographsVolumes I, II, III and VI and Appendix I and II of 6. xiii, [2], 556 pages with frontispiece, illustrated with a very large folding panorama of Santiago, Chile, with some hand-tinting view in color, figures, tables, color plate, four lithographic plates, 8 engraved maps & plans (4 of them folding) and index; ix, [3], 300 pages with 15 color lithographed plates of birds; 4 other color lithographed plates; 4 duotone lithographed plates; 17 steel-engraved plates of fauna and fossils, mostly fish and reptiles, figures, tables, 2 maps one folding and index; cclxxxviii+492 pages with tables and one plate; xlviii+420 pages with charts; Appendix I: xlvi+420 pages with plates and foldout plate. Volumes III, VI and Appendix I on meteorological observations. Quarto (11 ¼" x 9") in original publishers half leather with marbled boards,… Read More

[12]+1-9+[1, blank]+1-63, 63, 64-162 [1, blank]+ i-vi [6] pages lacking the frontispiece plate: Retrato del P. Misionero autor de esta Obra Fr. Miguel Tellechea. Small octavo (7 1/2" x 5 1/4") rebound in quarter leather with marbled boards. "Grammar in Spanish with Tarahumara examples; religious texts in Spanish and Tarahumara in double columns. Book 1: 'Del nombre, promombre, adverbio, y preposicion, primeros rudimentos' (pp. 6-12); Book 2: 'De las conjugaciones' (pp. 13-46); Book 3: prayers and doctrinal texts (pp. 47-59); Book 4: sermons (pp. 60-122), followed by 'Algunas cosas necesarias para la debida administracion de los Santos Sacramentos' (pp. 123-155)." (Sabin 9461) First edition.The Tarahumara or Rarámuri, "runners on foot" or "those who run fastare a Native American people of northwestern Mexico who are renowned for their long-distance running ability. Originally inhabitants of much of the state of Chihuahua, the Rarámuri retreated to the high sierras and canyons such as the Copper… Read More

[viii]+244+[12] pages with engraved map, folding plan and four engraved illustrations in text and index. Quarto (9 ¾" x 7½") bound in period calf with modern rebacking, original gilt spine leather laid down and ruled gilt edges to cover. Translated by Joh Stevens. First English Edition.This is a highly regarded chronicle of the conquest and colonization of Peru by Spaniards in the latter part of the 16th century and is lauded for its (at the time) objectivity. Cieza de Leon's Chronica was to appear in 4 sections, this translation being the first part only, all that was available of the history until the latter part of the 19th century.Pedro Cieza de Leon was a Spanish conquistador and chronicler of Peru. He is known primarily for his history and description of Peru, Cronicas del Peru. He wrote this book in four parts, but only the first was published during his lifetime; the remaining sections were not published until the 19th and 20th centuries. Cieza de León was born to a family of Jewish… Read More

2 volumes. [3]+xvi-359 pages with engraved frontispiece portrait of Magellan by Ferdinand, 4 folding tables and 3 folding maps. Appendice: [ii]+97 pages with one folding table and one folding map Lacks the map Carta reducida del estrecho de Magallanes, fragata de S.M. Santa María de la Cabeza. Royal octavo (9 3/4" x 7 1/2") bound in full leather red and black labels to spine in gilt lettering. (Palau 352514 & 352515; Sabin 16765) First edition.The official Spanish documentation of the scientific voyage of the frigate St. Maria de la Cabeza to the Straits of Magellan, the gateway to the Pacific. The expedition served the purpose of gathering scientific and hydrographic information and typified the efforts Spain was making to stimulate research and exploration in her colonies. The second half of the relacion chronicles the historic voyages through the straits, from Magellan and Drake to Bougainville. The maps are fine examples of rare 18th-century Spanish cartography. Two of the charts are detailed… Read More

2 volumes. [xxxvi]+540+[15 index] pages with title in red and black, frontispiece and ten additional plates, one folding map and index; xxiii+373+[iv] pages with title in red and black, five plates with one folding and two folding maps. Royal octavo (9 3/4" x 7 1/2") bound in contemporary calf with six raised spine bands with black and red labels in three compartment lettered in gilt, half titles in both volumes. (Palau 85403; Sabin 98752). Provence The Explorers Club Collection. This French translation of Vega is noted for its fine plates after Picart and includes maps of the Mississippi region with Hennepin's Discovery of a Country greater than Eyurope, Florida and northern New Spain, later Texas.This two volume set contains two of his most famous works. In volume one the Comentarios Reales de los Incas (part 1: 1609; part 2, the Historia General del Peru was published posthumously in 1617). In volume two La Florida del Inca was published in Lisbon (1605).Garcilaso de la Vega, the "Inca," was born… Read More

Valladolid, Por Diego Fernandez de Cordova, 1597.. FIRST EDITION. Folio (28.5 x 19.5 cm.), contemporary limp vellum (recased; relatively recent endleaves), title vertically in manuscript on spine. Large woodcut of royal arms of Spain on title page. Woodcut initials. Ruled borders. Occasional light foxing and minor stains. A few small marginal wormholes on first 2 and last few leaves. Overall in good condition. Old ownership signature, scored, on title page; another signature (?) scored on blank verso of title page. Notes on final blank page. A few early marginal notations. (12), 84 ll., signed ¶4, a8, A-K8, L4. Folio 61 misnumbered as 50, f. 80 misnumbered as 78. *** FIRST EDITION; others appeared at Toledo, 1617 and Madrid, 1625. (The 1517 edition is a ghost, no doubt deriving from a typo: see Ticknor Catalogue.) The Spanish discoveries in the New World are discussed on ff. 61 [misnumbered 50]-72: "De la grandeza y potencia del reyno de España en si, y sus partes, y en lo que comprender su… Read More

1622, Mexico City, Apud Ioannaem Ruiz. [5]+102+[1]+38+[1] leaves with title page engraved by Samuel Stradanus of Antwerp, but executed in Mexico. Folio (11 1/2" x 8") bound in contemporary vellum. Each source collates the preliminaries of this work differently, but this copy has the usual 3-page Juan de la Serna dedication which was not noted by Medina, Palau, or Sabin. (Medina, Mexico 343; Palau 293978; Sabin 48373; Szewczyk, 39 Books and Broadsides 29) First edition.The plate was engraved by Samuel Stradanus of Antwerp, who was used to print certificates of indulgences of forty days' remission of sins from Juan Pérez de la Serna, then Archbishop of Mexico. The certificates were given to people who donated money to finance the construction of the new sanctuary of Tepeyac, consecrated in 1622, which later became the Basilica of Guadalupe. Its actual title is Virgen de Guadalupe con escenas de ocho milagros (Spanish: Virgin of Guadalupe with scenes of eight miracles), but the term Stradanus engraving… Read More

1651, Mexico City, Imprenta de Juan Ruyz. From the library of Luis Garcia Pimentel[2 of 7]+136 leaves of 141. Octavo (8 1/2" x 6") bound in original period vellum with title hand written to spine. Last 36 leaves are headed "Lib. II" Libros 3 and 4 were issued separately the following year. From the library of Luis Garcia Pimentel. (Medina, Mexico 724; Palau 72254) First edition.Juan Díaz de Arce born in Mexico towards the end of the 16th century, he graduated as a bachelor from the Royal and Pontifical University, on October 23, 1603 he entered the College of Santa María de Todos Santos, where he obtained the chair of theology, which he taught for 30 years. Among other positions, he was an archdeacon, in charge of administering a diocese or part of it, under the orders of the bishop, he was appointed vicar general; He was also appointed as the schoolmaster, which means that he was in charge of teaching the ecclesiastical scenes, as well as archbishop of Santo Domingo, but whether or not he took… Read More

Cedula in six leaves, printed on both sides with seal of the King in the last page. Quarto (11" x 8 1/4") housed in hand crafted enclosure by Octavye. First edition.
Content of the Cedula. The King attempts to make the Spanish the unique and universal language in his domains: "The Indians be instructed in the dogmas of our religion in Spanish, and they are taught to read and write in this language, which must be extended and made unique, and universal in the same domains, as it is that of the Monarchs and Conquerors, to facilitate the administration, spiritual passage to the Naturals, and that these can be understood by the superiors ..."
The Cedula emphasizes the reluctance of the indigenous people to use Spanish and their inclination to maintain their own language, so they do not send their children to schools and go to the extreme of resisting speaking Spanish even though they know it. This attitude shows, according to the king, "something of malice" born in the desire of the natives to hide their… Read More

[8]+355 leaves+[Venetia 1564 page] with lists of words in Nahuatl: leaves 299-303. Small octavo (5 3/4" x 4") bound18th-century stiff vellum. (European Americana 564/25; Medina BHA 159n; Sabin 27741; Wagner, Spanish Southwest 2v) Early Italian translation of the stand-alone third part of Lopez de Gomara's 1552 landmark History of the West Indies, dedicated to the exploits of Hernán Cortés.
Francisco López de Gómara was a Spanish historian who worked in Seville, particularly noted for his works in which he described the early 16th century expedition undertaken by Hernán Cortés in the Spanish conquest of the New World. Although Gómara himself did not accompany Cortés, and had in fact never been to the Americas, he had firsthand access to Cortés and others of the returning conquistadores as the sources of his account. However other contemporaries, among them most notably Bernal Díaz del Castillo, criticized his work as being full of inaccuracies, and one which unjustifiably sanitized the events… Read More

[13]+37 leaves. Small octavo (6' x 4") bound in later limp calf, extraneous later engravings mounted to endpapers. (Medina, Mexico 2478; Palau 20391; Pilling 193.) First edition.
This work consists of Spanish explanations with Nahuatl examples. Avila was a parish priest in Milpa Alta in the bishopric of Mexico, a Nahuatl-speaking village even to this day. In this work Avila not only made a presentation of Nahuatl grammar, as the title shows, but he combined it with various homilies and moral speeches on the rites and mysteries of the Church and on the obligation of worship.
Condition:
Minor wear; moderate dampstaining and wear, extraneous later engravings mounted to endpapers. One engraving colorized else a good to very good copy.

As the Library of Congress listing explains: "John Baily was an Englishman who lived for many years in Central America. He was employed in 1837-38 by the government of Nicaragua to survey a potential canal route from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. In 1850 Baily published this book and a separate map of Central America that showed four proposed routes for an isthmian canal ... The chapter devoted to Nicaragua is by far the longest and contains a detailed discussion of the proposed route for an inter-oceanic canal through the country." This offering is for the book only. It does NOT include the map, which was published separately. The book does include all three "views" of various places in Central America.

Paris: Chez Theodore la Gras, 1722. First Edition First Printing . Leather Bound. Very Good. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. 12mos. xxxvi, [8], 525; [6], 598; vi, 549; vi, 558; vi, 524; vi, 514, [14] pages. Collates complete with 102 plates and maps, many folding. INCLUDES THE FOLDING MAP OF NORTH AMERICA WITH CALIFORNIA AS AN ISLAND. Hardcovers rebound in mid-20th century full brown leather with titles on the spine in gilt. Light wear to the bindings. New endpapers, but the old endpapers are preserved. Title pages in black and red. Each title page has an inkstamp noting "Case 45 / Shelf B". Occasional tears or chips at the top edges of the pages near the gutter at the front. In Volume I, there is a tear and crease at the fore edge of page 15 and a tear running into the text on the leaf for pages 391-392. Browning to some of the plates in Volume IV. Otherwise the plates are generally in quite good condition. Plates as follows: Vol. I: 3 Maps & Plans… Read More