
CENTRAL AMERICA
[
]
John Carter Brown's Copy, Acquired from Stevens
(An
Important Book, a Stellar Provenance). López
de Cogolludo, Diego. Historia
de Yucathan. Madrid: Juan Garcia Infanzon, 1688. Folio (29 cm; 11.5"). [1 of 15]
ff., 760 pp., [16] ff.
$9250.00
Click the images for enlargements.
In this account of the conquest and Spanish settlement of the Yucatan, López de Cogolludo, a Franciscan missionary and administrator originally from Alcalá de Henares, presents a sought-after account. He had access to a manuscript version of Bishop Landa's work and consulted such important printed sources as Torquemada.
He also presents his personal eye-witness accounts of events during his 30 years among the Maya (1634–65).
Robert Patch says in the Encyclopedia of Latin American History & Culture (III, 458) that López de Cogolludo wrote this history in the 1650s and that it is “a major source not only for the history of Yucatán but also for the study of Maya culture.”
Provenance: Small booklabel: “Marchio Regaliae D.D. 1741.” John Carter Brown (1797–1874) purchased this from Henry Stevens in 1845/1846. On his death to his son John Nicholas Brown (1861–1900). On his death deeded to the John Carter Brown Library. Deaccessioned 2008.
Palau 141001; Sabin 14210. Contemporary limp vellum with remnants of ties, front joint (inside) starting to open. Scattered foxing, including on title-page; short tear, repaired, in title; some staining in early margins and into text; without the preliminaries or the added engraved title. Doodling in many margins; ink stains from a careless quill user on several pages. John Carter Brown's stamped signature on p. 1. A less than perfect copy that yet does not “feel” maimed; a copy with a distinguished provenance to match the distinction of the work. (27561)

Baily's Central American Survey — Volcanic Illustrations
Baily, John. Central America; describing each of the states of Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica; their natural features, products, population, and remarkable capacity for colonization. London: Trelawney Saunders, 1850. 8vo (20.7 cm; 8.25"). Frontis., xii, 164 pp.; 2 plts.
$625.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition of this evaluation of the commercial and agricultural potential of the Central American countries. An officer of the British Royal Marines, Baily lived in Guatemala for many years, and was the translator of Juarros's Compendio de la historia de la ciudad de Guatemala; he was also a proponent of the “Canal de Nicaragua.”
The volume is illustrated with
three engraved views, all three incorporating volcanos. As usual, this copy does not include the oversized map, which was printed and published separately.
Provenance: With ownership stamp of early 20th-century American archaeologist Harry Evelyn Dorr Pollock on front free endpaper.
Binding: Navy blue publisher's cloth with gilt lettering and blind ruling on spine, decorative foliate frames on covers in blind. Binder's label of Edmonds & Remnants, London, on rear pastedown.
Palau 21943; Sabin 2771; Nicaraguan National Bibliography 1476. Binding as above: gently rubbed with tiny tissue patches applied to weak areas of bookcloth, text slightly cocked, front hinge repaired and a few preliminary leaves reattached with long–fiber tissue and wheat starch paste. Light age-toning with some foxing, most notably around plates; one leaf with small marginal hole, a few corners creased, some leaves with evidence in margins of hasty opening. (36298)

On Private Worship: An Oratory in One's Home
Baquero, Francisco de Paula. Disertacion apologetica a favor del privilegio, que por costumbre introducida por la Bula de la santa cruzada goza la Nacion Española en el uso de los oratorios domesticos, leida, en la Real Academia de buenas letras de Sevilla en 25. de octubre de 1771. En Sevilla: Por D. Josef Padrino, [colophon, 1777]. Small 4to (18.5 cm; 7.25"). [1] f., 104 pp.
$750.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Our author was the “cura mas antiguo del Sagrario de [Sevilla],
examinador Synodal de su arzobispado, comisario y revisor de libros del Santo
Oficio, academico numerario,” and the “censor de dicha Real Academia.”
His work was first read before the Real Academia on 25 October 1771 but because
of delays in obtaining the necessary licenses to print it, publication was delayed
until 1777.
In this work of canon law and Catholic Church customs and practices, Baquero
studies the privilege that the Bull of the Holy Crusade granted the Spanish
nation regarding oratories in private residences; it applied not only to Spain
but to
colonies as well.
The first of three, this edition was published by “un amigo del author.”
The other editions appeared in 1781 AND
1861.
Only one U.S. library reports ownership of either the 1777 or 1781 edition.
It should be noted that there is NO 1771 edition, despite Palau and online
cataloguing; cataloguers have simply failed to look at the last page of the
supposed 1771 edition to see that the colophon is dated 1777.
This offers one very pretty large initial and some modestly nice work with
type ornaments.
Palau 23499 (giving wrong date of publication). Contemporary
limp vellum, a bit missing from back cover; evidence of ties, and binding
with light dust-soiling. Lacking rear free endpaper. A clean, nice copy. (29596)

Early ABS Spanish New Testament — A Controversial Translation
Bible. N.T. Spanish. 1823. Scio de S. Miguel. El Nuevo Testamento de nuestro señor Jesu Cristo, traducido de la Biblia Vulgata Latina. Nueva York: Estereotipa por Elihu White a costa de la Sociedad Americana de la Biblia, 1823. 12mo (18 cm, 7"). 376 pp.
$600.00
Click the images for enlargements.
This is an early reprint (the 7th edition, the 5th through 9th editions all appearing in 1823) of the 1819 edition of the New Testament in Spanish published by the American Bible Society, which was the first printing in Spanish of any portion of the Bible in the New World. To avoid controversy, and to appeal to Catholics, a translation approved for use in the Catholic Church was employed. This resulted in some criticism from the ABS's Protestant base, but proved a successful strategy to
get the Scriptures into the hands of Spanish speakers in the newly independent nations south of the U.S.
Darlow & Moule 8495; Shoemaker 11841; not in O'Callaghan; not in O'Callaghan, Supplement,. Contemporary sheep, spine with gilt rules and tiny remnant of black leather title label; some rubbing and abrasions, spine leather with fine cracks. Waterstaining, sometimes nearly invisible, other times noticeable; scattered foxing and browning throughout.
A solid, sound copy of a text that was a bit of a landmark for the ABS. (35158)

Gen. Cruz's FIRST Rebellion Against
Pres. Cerna
Cerna, Vicente. Broadside. Begins: El Presidente a los habitantes de la republica. Compatriotas: Un gefe militar de alta graduacion y á quien el Gobierno ha mostrado todo género de consideraciones, ha iniciado un movimiento sedicioso. [Guatemala: No publisher/printer, 1867]. Folio (33 cm; 13"). [1] p.
$350.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
President Cerna announces that Mariscal de Campo Serapio Cruz has raised a rebellion in the jurisdiction of Sanarate for personal reasons and not for any that would justify a true revolution. He calls on the citizens to remain calm while the government brings the situation to a peaceful and just resolution.This rebellion was the first of two that Cruz led against the government of Cerna, the heir of Carrera regime. The second one in 1869 led to Cruz's death in battle.
Searches of NUC, and WorldCat locate
only two copies in U.S. libraries.
As issued. (33990)

The Development of a
Hacienda in the YUCATAN — 1626–1866
(Chalmuch Hacienda, Yucatan, Mexico). Manuscript cahiers on paper of land transfers and inventories, in
MAYA and Spanish. Chalmuch, Merida, elsewhere in Yucatan: 1626–1866. Folio (31 cm, 12.5"). 132 ff. (14 blank).
$5500.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Law suits between Yucatan hacienda owners (one a woman), and hacienda owners and Indians; estate inventories and land transfers (three in Maya); materials showing usefully characteristic environmental effects — from the early 17th century and continuing through the middle of the 19th, these documents chronicle the development of the Chalmuch hacienda, situated approximately 12 kilometers west of the center of Merida.
In the Yucatan — for geographic, geologic. ecologic, and economic reasons, particularly the quality of the soil and the lack of water for irrigation — haciendas had a later appearance than in other parts of Mexico, especially in the center and north, where their development began in the decade after the fall of the Aztec Empire. It was not until the 17th century that haciendas began to be established in the Yucatan Peninsula.
The earliest document in these five sewn-files is dated 18 May 1626 and concerns the settlement of a law suit between Bernardo de Sosa Velazquez and the Indians of the towns of Santiago, Cauqall, and Vac regarding unused lands and hills. The suit was settled in favor of Sosa with the provisos that he occupy the lands, build on and populate them, and bring in cattle within one year. The addition of new land to this original sitio is the substance of the remaining documents. Among them are two estate inventories and three documents of the first third of the 18th century in Maya (land transfers).
In the 1850s and ‘60s there was a land dispute between Doña Pastora Castillo, owner of the Oxcun hacienda, and Bernardo Cano, owner of the Chalmuch hacienda (represented by Sr. José Vicente Solís, his agent), concerning the need for a survey of boundaries. The dispute dragged on and in 1866, during the attempted reforms of Maximilian's Empire, these documents were presented before the state's Land Inspection Section and were certified by the Chief of Inspection with his stamp. The Land Inspection Section was responsible for the preparation and revision of plans, the comparison of land documents, and the measurement of land held by each hacienda, as well as certification of location, boundaries, and owners.
Provenance: From the private archive of the Chalmuch hacienda.
Documents such as these showing the growth and development of haciendas in the central part of Mexico are fairly common but extremely uncommon for the Yucatan. Similarly colonial-era documents in Nahuatl are fairly commonly available in the marketplace but comparable ones in Maya are rare.
This is the first gathering of land documents for the Yucatan and the first manuscripts in Maya that PRB&M has had in its decades of dealing in Mexican colonial-era manuscripts see images below for the latter.
Manuscripts from the Yucatan are notorious for having suffered environmental and ecological damage: damp and insect problems. These are no exception, but as such they are excellent for teaching purposes as well as traditional research. One cahier has extensive worm/insect damage, another has faded ink from exposure to long-term humidity, and others are just fine. Here is the opportunity to show (and for students to practice) how to use light sources of various wave-lengths for making faded writing jump off the page and how to carefully interleave a document with thin Mylar sheets to save leaves from further damage during reading and page-turning.
(We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the state archive of the Yucatan in explaining the significance of the stamps of the Land Inspection Section that appear in some of the documents. It is good to be assured that they are indication of private, not government, ownership.)
Each cahier is housed in a Mylar sleeve and the five are contained in a blue cloth clamshell box. Condition is extremely variable: as above, one cahier has extensive worm/insect damage, another has faded ink, and others are just fine. Stamps are present as mentioned above.
A rare surviving compilation and one that is instructive from multiple perspectives. (40308)

Legal Age for Marrying
Charles IV, King of Spain. 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
Click the image for an enlargement.
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)

Early
El Salvador Imprint Nullifying an Appointment
El Salvador. Asamblea legislativa. Broadside, begins: “Ministerio general del Gobierno del Estado del Salvador ... La Asamblea legislativa ... decreta. Se declara insubsistente el nombramiento de magistratado par que fue electo el Lic. Atanacio Urritia. San Salvador: No publisher/printer, 1833. Small 8vo. [1] p.
$1000.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
In this early Salvadoran broadside the legislature nullifies the appointment of Lic. Urrutia to the Supreme Court and places Lic. Jose Felix Quiros on the bench instead.Printing seems to have arrived in El Salvador in 1825, placing this in the first decade of that art there.
Apparently rare: We trace no copy via NUC Pre-1956, WorldCat, CCILA, or METABASE.
Removed from a nonce volume. A few small holds from insect damage, a few of the few repaired with archival tissue. Old bibliographical notations in pencil in margins. Light waterstaining in upper outer corner. (25791)

The Ill-Fated Scots Colony at
Darien
Foyer, Archibald, supposed author. A defence of the Scots settlement at Darien. With an answer to the Spanish memorial against it. And arguments to prove that it is the interest of England to join with the Scots, and protect it. To which is added, a description of the country, and a particular account of the Scots colony. No place [Edinburgh?]: No publisher/printer, 1699. Small 4to (20 cm; 8"). [2] ff., 60 pp.
$1250.00
Click the images for enlargements.
As the 1690s wound down the lords and and burghers of Scotland dreamed of an overseas empire such as Spain, England, Portugal, and the Dutch had, and to this end came into existence the Company of Scotland for Trading to Africa and the Indies. Chartered in 1695 and with a coffer of some £400,000, it established a colony (“Darien”) on
the Caribbean coast of what is now Panama, a worse location being hard to conceive. Even today that site is virtually uninhabited.
Trouble plagued the enterprise from the arrival of the first Scots in 1698 and it fairly shortly collapsed for lack of supplies, malaria, other diseases, internal dissension, a nonexistent trading base, and the might of the Spanish military in the region. The wreck of the scheme led to an economic crisis at home which in turn helped enable the 1707 Act of Unification.
The vast bulk of this work attempts to convince the English to support the Scots' enterprise and cites political, religious, social, and economic reasons for doing so; clearly, the Scots knew that English naval might in particular would be essential for the success of the scheme. Beyond this, however, a section (pp. 42 to 51) addresses the natural history, native population, agricultural commodities, and indigenous industry of the region; and the work ends with an account of the Scots' settlement, the buildings erected there, and its intercourse with the indigenous people.
Authorship of this work is problematic: It is signed “Philo-Caledon” at the end of the dedication and three other names have have been proposed as possible authors in addition to Foyer's — George Ridpath, Andrew Fletcher, and John Hamilton (2nd Baron Belhaven). Added to the conundrum of authorship, the work was produced in four editions in the same year, each having different numbers of pages, each with a different signature scheme, none with a publisher, and this one without even a place of publication!
Wing (rev. ed.) F2047; Sabin 78211; Alden & Landis 699/9; ESTC R18505 ; and Halkett & Laing II:32. 20th-century half dark brown crushed morocco with brown linen sides. This copy has all the hallmarks of having once been through a British bookseller's “hospital”: all leaves are dust-soiled or age-toned; all leaves are uncut but some have been extended and others not, and some leaves with torn margins (but not all) have had lost paper restored; all such repairs and extensions are within the first six leaves, meaning these were probably supplied from another copy. Top of title-leaf trimmed with loss of “A” of the title; another leaf with a tear to the top margin with loss costing tops of several letters of words on one page, and two leaves with the running head guillotined by a binder; some stray stains.
An interesting copy for its probable if problematic history and condition. (34130)
González Bustillo, Juan. Extracto, ô Relacion methodica, y puntual de los autos de reconocimiento, practicado en virtud de commission del señor presidente de la Real Audiencia de este reino de Guatemala. Pueblo de Mixco [Guatemala]: Impreso en la oficina de A. Sanchez Cubillas, 1774. Folio (29.5 cm; 11.675"). [2], 86 pp. (without final leaf with one erratum).
$10,750.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Following the ruin of Santiago de los Caballeros by the big earthquake of 1773, the capital of Guatemala was moved first to the little town of Mixco and then later to the location of the present site of Guatemala City. Offered here is the highly important report of the commission headed by Juan González Bustillo on that devastating July, 1773 earthquake: It occupies pp. 1–55 and is followed by "Prosigue la relacion, ô Extracto de todo lo que resulta èvacuado en la Junta general, y demas que se ha tenido presente hasta la conclusion del assunto de translacion, e informe, que debe hacerse à Su Magestad” on pp. 57–86.
The careful, lengthy, and contemporary reports present here detail the day’s events, give the sequence of the destruction of various buildings and areas of the city, recount salvage and evacuation efforts, etc. The writers (and the citizens) erroneously blamed the nearby volcanos for causing the tremors and quaking, but that was logical at the time. Seeking historical perspective, the commissioners make significant and informed comparisons with earlier earthquakes.
This document is one of the very few printed in the temporary capital of Mixco, a press having been salvaged from the ruins in the former capital. Thus, Mixco was the second city/town to have a press in Central America, and then, for only a short time—appoximately two years.
In addition to being important for its contents and in the realm of printing history, the González Bustillo report is uncommon: We trace only half a dozen copies in U.S. libraries.
Medina, Guatemala, 384; Palau 105113; Sabin 27811. Modern full calf, very plain style. Without the final leaf with one erratum on it. (13841)

“Nuestro Esclarecido Gefe”
Guatemala. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. Broadside, begins: “El Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, encargado del gobierno, a los habitantes de la República. Guatemaltecos! Un acontecimiento grave y doloroso me obliga a dirijiros la palabra.” [Guatemala: No publisher/printer, 1865]. Folio (34 cm; 13.25"). [1] p.
$775.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Pedro de Aycinena announces the death of long-time leader and sometimes president Rafael Carrera, dated in the text 14 April 1865.
Carrera was an epitome of the 19th-century caudillo.Minister Aycinena announces that he will assume the presidential powers until a new leader can be appointed.
Searches of NUC, WorldCat, COPAC, CICLA, and Metabase locate only one library copy worldwide — in the U.S.
Valenzuela, VI, 119. As issued; one small piece of blank paper torn from lower outer corner. Overall age-toning. (31054)

“They Promise Each Other Reciprocal Peace & Friendship”
Guatemala. Treaties. Tratado de amistad y alianza entre
los estados de Guatemala y Los Altos. Guatemala: Imprenta del Gobierno del Estado, a cargo de
A. Espana, 1839. Folio (31 cm; 12.25"). [1] f.
$1000.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Ten-article treaty of peace and friendship between Guatemala and the newly
created nation of Los Altos. It achieved independence from Guatemala officially on 2 February
1838. This treaty is dated 18 December of the same year.The state of Los Altos came into being because of political differences and tensions
between Guatemala City and Quetzaltenango and other parts of western Central America.
No copy traced via WorldCat, COPAC, CCILA, or METABASE; there is no OPAC at
the Biblioteca Nacional de Guatemala to be searched.
Almost-overall waterstain giving the paper an aged look. Upper margin with small area eaten by
vermin and repaired with archival tissue; lower foremargin damaged with loss and repaired with
undetermined tape. Overall good+. (30884)

“Habrá Paz Perpetua y Perfecta y Amistad Sincera e Invariable”
Guatemala. Treaties. [drop-title] Tratado de amistad, comercio y navegación entre la República de Guatemala y las ciudades libres de Lubeck, Bremen y Hamburgo. [Guatemala: No publisher/printer, 1850]. Folio (33 cm.; 13"). 12 pp.
$875.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
The text of this treaty is printed in parallel Spanish and
German. At the top of the first page it reads: “Rafael Carrera, Presidente de la República de Guatemala, por cuanto entre la República de Guatemala y las ciudades libres anseáticas de Lubeck, Bremen y Hamburgo, se ha concluido y firmado en esta ciudad el dia veinticinco de junio del corriente año . . . un tratado de amistad, comercio y navegacion. . . .” It is dated in the text at the end 7 June 1850.
Searches of NUC, WorldCat, COPAC, CICLA, and Metabase locate only two copies, both in the U.S. However, we do know of a third copy at Tulane.
Not in Valenzuela. Folded and stitched as issued; minor chipping in lower margins. Scattered faint foxing. A very good copy. (31053)
For TREATIES, click here.

El Pronunciamiento de Sensuntepeque
“Imparcial, Un.” Broadside. Begins: Acta de
pronunciamiento de Sensuntepeque. Vivan los derechos del Pueblo. — Muera la tiranía. San
Salvador: Impr. del Gobierno, 1863. Tall folio (35 cm; 13.75"). [1] p.
$875.00
Click the images for enlargement.
Editio princeps of the famous “Pronunciamiento de Sensuntepeque,” the grass-roots denouncement of the liberal Barrios government. All but one family of the town banded together to draft and sign this document and to send manuscript copies throughout the country to foment a popular revolution and to support the Guatemalan invasion aimed at ousting Barrios.
This is a 180-degree turn-around stance from that of 12 November 1859 when the town published a decree fully supporting Barrios.
Pres. Carrera of Guatemala, a Conservative with ambitions to control all of Central America, did unseat Barrios and in October of 1863 installed Francisco Dueñas as president.
The meeting at which this document was drafted occurred on 27 February 1863, months prior to the Guatemalan invasion, but this first printed version did not appear until after the fall of Barrios and the installation of the Conservative government. It is dated 11 November 1863.
A postscript to the “Pronunciamiento” states “esta acta no se pudo dar a luz en su oportunidad por haber sido persequidos, encarcelados y confiscados los firmantes.” The names of the signers are present (in type) above the postscript.
Searches of WorldCat, COPAC, CCILA, and Metabase locate no copies.
Top margin crumpled and with a few tears and some small loss of paper, but not of text. One horizontal fold. (31068)

FIRST BIBLIOGRAPHY of
AMERICANA (PLUS)
León Pinelo, Antonio de. Epítome de la bibliotheca oriental, y occidental, nautica, y geográfica ... Añadido y enmendado nuevamente en que se contienen los escritores de las Indias orientales, y occidentales, y reinos convecinos China, Tartaria, Japón, Persia, Armenia, Etiopia y otras partes. Madrid: En la oficina de Francisco Martinez Abad, 1737–38. Folio (30 cm; 11.75"). 3 vols. I: [71], [135], [27] ff. II: [221] ff. III: 202 pp.
$9000.00
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Antonio de León Pinelo (1589–1660) was a Spanish-colonial historian. Born in Cordova de Tucuman and educated at the Jesuit college of Lima, he left the New World for Spain in 1612 and there enjoyed a highly successful career, becoming attorney of the Council of the Indies and later a judge in the Casa de Contratacion in Seville.
His Epitome was originally published in Madrid in 1629 and is here in the second edition as
enlarged and annotated by Andres Gonzalez de Barcia: It was the first bibliography for the field of Americana and to this day
it remains an important source for scholars and collectors of the colonial era of the New World for its wealth of bibliographic data and most especially information about manuscripts.
Rich says of this edition that it is, “The most complete general bibliography of geographical works, travels, missionary reports, etc.” And LeClerc echoes him: “ouvrage extremement important pour la bibliographie americaine.”
The work is handsomely printed (although erratic in its pagination and signature markings), in double-column format, featuring title-pages in black and red with an engaging small engraved vignette of a ship between pillars reading “Plus” and “Ultra.”
Provenance: Ownership stamp of Carlos Sanz in several places.
Sabin 40053; Palau 135738; Alden & Landis 737/135; Medina, BHA, 3071; Borba de Moraes, II, 150; LeClerc 872. Contemporary vellum over pasteboards, a little soiled especially to spnes, retaining button and loop closures; hinges (inside) open in a few places but bindings strong. Occasional waterstain or other sign of exposure to dampness; a few gutter margins (only) of first volume with a short wormtrack; some cockling of paper. (34810)

Cortés Historia in Italian — Signed American,
PROVIDENCE
Red Morocco
Lopez de Gomara, Francisco. Historia, di Don Ferdinando Cortes, marchese della Valle, capitano varlorosissimo. Venetia: Per Francesco Lorenzini da Turino, MDLX [1560]. 8vo (15 cm; 5.75"). [11 of 12], 348 ff. (lacks the title-leaf).
$3200.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Following the achievement of the conquest of Mexico, Cortés did not know how to stop and rest on his laurels: He sought greater fame and honor and to do this embarked on several ill-conceived expeditions that added no luster to his name, and when it became clear that the king was not going to make him a viceroy, the slide down the slope was an unpleasant one. Still striving, he enlisted his chaplain Francisco López de Gómara to write a history of the New World that would include a laudatory biography.
The Historia general de las Indias (first published in 1552) is divided into two parts which stand on their own although clearly written as two parts of a whole. Part I is a history of events concerning the discovery and conquests of the New World exclusive of those involving Cortés. Part II is entirely dedicated to the telling of Cortés's role in the conquest of Mexico and subsequent discoveries.
In this Italian translation from the pen of Agostino di Cravaliz (first published with title Historia di Mexico, et quando si discoperse la nuoua Hispagna [Roma: appresso Valerio & Luigi Dirici fratelli, M.D.L.V]), López's “all-Cortés” volume stands as part III of the three-volume Historia, delle nuove Indie Occidentali, with parts I and II being translations of Cieza de Leon's Historia, over Cronica del gran regno del Peru and the previously mentioned part I of
Gómara's Historia general de las Indias.
The text here is printed in italic type except the capitals, which are roman. Leaves 292–96 contain
a brief study of Nahuatl and include lists of numbers, months, days, and years in that language.
Binding: American signed binding by Coombs of Providence, R.I., for John Carter Brown (ca. 1865), with his binder's ticket. Full red morocco, round spine, raised bands; author, title, place and date of publication in gilt on spine; gilt roll on board edges; gilt inner dentelles. All edges gilt. Gilt supra-libros of John Carter Brown on front cover.
Provenance: Ownership stamp of John Carter Brown on first leaf of preliminaries, supra-libros as above. On his death to his son John Nicholas Brown (1861–1900). On his death deeded to the John Carter Brown Library. Deaccessioned 2008.
Alden & Landis 560/28; Sabin 27739; Wagner, Spanish Southwest, 2t; Medina, BHA, 159n. This edition not in H. de León-Portilla, Tepuztlahcuilolli, but see 1692. Binding as above. Lacks the title-leaf; (therefore) first leaf of preliminaries with a John Carter Brown's personal ownership stamp and his bookplate on front pastedown. Waterstaining, barely visible in many margins and lightly across text in last half. Four leaves with very old scribbling (pen trials?) in margins. A treasure with a distinguished provenance, presenting itself in the classic fashion of a 19th-century “collector's copy.” (28914)

Eye-Witness to
Many Events Described
Marure, Alejandro. Bosquejo histórico de las revoluciones de Centro-America. Desde 1811 hasta 1834. Guatemala: Tip. de “El Progreso”, 1877–1878. 8vo. 2 vols. in 1. I: 191, [1 (blank), LII (documents) pp., [3] ff. II: 143, [1 (blandk)], LIX, [1 (blank)] pp., [3] ff.
$275.00
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Second edition (first was 1837) of Marure's still-consulted account of Cental America during the Federal Republic era (1823–40). In this edition, the “Prologo de la 2. ed.” (vol. I, pp. [1][–3], is signed “Lorenzo Montúfar.” Vol. II has the title “Bosquejo histórico de las revoluciones de Centro-America.”
Late 19th-century quarter red morocco, plain style, with marbled–paper covered boards. Leather lightly scuffed in places. All edges marbled to match endpapers. Occasional pencilling. (24596)

Scary Times for Spaniards in the
Break-Away Yucatan
(Republic of the Yucatan). Group of 15 documents (see below for details). Campeche, Merida: Various publishers, 1842–43. Folio and slightly smaller (31 cm; 12.25"; and slightly smaller). 38 pp. (11 blank).
$7500.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
The culture and politics of central Mexico in the 19th century often did not coincide with those of the Yucatan, especially after the dissolution of the constitution of the First Empire. The long-smoldering discontent that the post-Empire constitutions engendered reached the breaking point for the Yucatecans in March of 1841 and on the 16th of that month
the peninsula declared its independence from the rest of Mexico.
The Yucatecans were perhaps encouraged by the Tejanos and their successful separation from Mexico in 1836.
The four manuscript documents, two broadsides, and nine newspapers in this collection date from the period of the first Mexican invasion of the peninsula and the central government's failed attempt to quell what it saw as a rebellion — an invasion that was not repelled until April, 1843. Included here are: 1) A pair of letters dated Merida 17 and 24 January 1843, from Juan de Regil to Mauricio de Santelices of Havana regarding the political situation. 2) A printed broadside proclamation by President Miguel Barbachano (Mérida, 2 December 1842), imposing a heavy tax on and forced loans from the nation's industrialists, merchants, and professionals. 3) A manuscript extract from a letter (Merida, 21 December 1842) from an unknown Spanish national to Santelices, requesting assistance in leaving Yucatan due to the oppressive new tax, but also giving first-hand information about
military operations. 4) An Autograph Letter Signed, Campeche, 17 February 1843, from Geronimo Ferrer y Valls (Spanish commercial agent in Yucatan) to the Captain General of Cuba in Havana, expressing concern for the safety of Spanish nationals in the Yucatan and containing details of
murders and summary military executions. 5) A printed broadside entitled Opinion General, Verdaderas ideas y convicciones de las secciones del ejército del Estado acampadas extramuros de esta Ciudad (Campeche: José M. Peralta, 1843). And, 6) Nine issues of the Boletin del Espiritu del Siglo dated January to June 1843, most with
excellent content on Yucatecan resistance to the invasion by Mexico.
The Boletin del Espiritu del Siglo (published in Campeche by Jose Maria Peralta) is quite scarce, with only Yale reporting ownership of a very good but incomplete run. Present here are issues from 1843: 43 (7 January), 46 (13 January), 48 (15 January), 52 (19 January), 53 (20 January), 63 (30 January), 144 (22 April), 148 (26 April), and 189 (6 June).
Primary source material on the Republic of the Yucatan is rare.
Neither broadside is found in WorldCat, CCILA, or Palau. Boletin del Espiritu del Siglo is not listed in Charno, Latin American Newspapers, nor in CCILA. Some newspaper issues and one broadside are browned or partially so. Overall condition is good or better. (37063)

Rivera
Assumes the PRESIDENCY
Rivera [Cabezas], Antonio. A los habitantes del estado.
La Asamblea Legislativa me ha llamado a ejercio del Poder Ejecutivo por decreto de este dia, en
que declara haber lugar a la formacion de causa al Gefe del Estado. Guatemala: 1830. Folio
(30.7 cm; 12.25"). [1] p.
$2000.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
A crisis has caused the Guatemalan national assembly to remove Doctor Pedro
José Antonio Molina Mazariegos as president and appoint Antonio Rivera, a liberal politician.
Rivera assumed the presidency on 9 March 1830, on which day he issued this announcement that
he had assumed the position and calling on the people to remain calm.
Searches of WorldCat, COPAC, CCILA, and METABASE locate no copies. Tthere is no
OPAC at the Biblioteca Nacional de Guatemala to be searched.
Valenzuela, III,
579. Light to tea-colored waterstains in margins. A good copy.
(30889)

Returned to “La Silla del Gobierno que Ocupaba
por Ministerio de la
Ley”
Rivera Paz, Mariano. [drop-title] Mariano Rivear Paz,
Consejero Gefe del Estado de Guatemala, a los habitantes del estado y demas pueblos de la
republica. Conciudadanos: Quando en fines de enero ultimo fui arrojado por la fuerza de la silla
del Gobierno, que ocupaba por ministerio de la ley, tuve el honor de informaros de mi conducta
en aquellas circunstancias. [Guatemala]: Imprenta de la N. Academia de Estudios, 1839.
$875.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Dated 18 August 1839, five days after Rivera Paz's returning to office. He says
that the people of Guatemala, with the support of Gen. Carrera and his caudillos, have restored
him to his right place in government and that he hopes to bring peace and prosperity to the
nation.WorldCat locates only the copy in the Chilean National Library; no copy traced via
COPAC, CCILA, or METABASE; there is no OPAC at the Biblioteca Nacional de Guatemala to
be searched.
Irregular inner margin. Light to quite noticeable
waterstain running longitudinally top to bottom in one half of the leaf. Lower outer corner
damaged with loss of paper due to exposure to moisture away from text.
(30886)

A History of the Spanish Colonies from a
Scottish Perspective
Robertson, William. The history of America. London: printed for W. Strahan; T. Cadell, in the Strand; and J. Balfour, Edinburgh, 1783. 8vo (21.8 cm; 8.625"). 3 vols. I: xlvii, [1], 336 pp.; [2] folded maps. II: [4], 474 pp.; [1] plt., [2] folded maps. III: [4], 432, [40] pp.
[SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
An important, classic, and much-reprinted history, here in the fourth British edition. Robertson became the principal of the University of Edinburgh in 1762 and was appointed royal historiographer of Scotland in 1764. The first eight books of his History of America, which are those presented here in three volumes, were first published in 1777 and deal with the history of the Spanish colonies. This text contains
four large engraved maps of the Gulf of Mexico and countries adjacent, South America, Panama to Guayquil, and Mexico or New
Spain, all by Thomas Kitchin, the hydrographer to the king of England.
Provenance: Booklabel of Raymond Clavreuil on front pastedown of vol. I.
ESTC T78965; Sabin 71973. Brown speckled calf, two gilt leather spine labels, double rules accenting raised bands and covers framed in gilt fillets, all edges speckled red; bindings lightly rubbed and one cover with (limited) old stain to top. Marked as above, light age-toning; very small amount of pencilling on endpapers and off-setting to early/late leaves from turn-ins; a few tears in folded maps artfully repaired from back, folds strong.
A handsome, sturdy set of a classic. (36140)

“Tales Son los Deseos que Animan . . . a los
Guatemaltecos”
Salazar, Carlos. [drop-title] El Gefe Provisorio de
Guatemala a los habitantes del estado y de toda la republica. Encargado del Gobierno de este
Estado, mientras se reune el Cuerpo constituyente que debe decidir de su surete, no debo guardar
siliencio en unas circunstancias en que los suscesos de la Republica, que pueden sernos
trascendentales, llaman la atencion de los pueblos, cuyo bien estar es el primer deber de la
autoridad publica. [Guatemala]: Imprenta de la N. A. de Estudios, 1839. Folio (30.7 cm;12.125").
[1] f.
$875.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Beginning in 1838 The Federal Republic of Central America was torn apart by
civil wars pitting Liberals against Conservatives and the desires of the various states against the
central government, with constitutional issues at the heart of the controversy.The Liberals installed Gen. Carlos Salazar in January, 1839, as provisional president of
Guatemala replacing Conservative Mariano Rivera Paz. This was during a brief period of peace
between the two factions. Here in a decree dated 20 March 1839 Salazar offers to act as
mediator for any effort at a lasting peace.
No copy traced via WorldCat, COPAC, CCILA, or METABASE; there is no OPAC at
the Biblioteca Nacional de Guatemala to be searched.
Irregular margins, tea-colored waterstain running longitudinally top to bottom in one half of the
leaf, date in faded old ink in top margin. A good+ copy.
(30885)
For CONSTITUTIONS & CONSTITUTIONAL
ISSUES, click here.
For more of MILITARY/NAVAL interest, 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 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. Ownership signatures on title-page. A nice set. (3584)

Earn Your Keep!
Spain. Sovereigns, etc., 1788–1808 (Charles IV). [begins] El rey. Debiendo aplicar por todos los medios posibles mi paternal amor y cuidado a mis vasalos ... He vendio por mi real decreto de veinte y tres de diciembre del ano proximo pasado en mandar ... [in manuscript: Madrid: 21 February] 1789. Folio (30.5 cm; 12"). [3] pp.
$250.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
The king asks all government officials to pay attention to the requirements of their jobs and to earn their salaries.
Searches of NUC and WorldCat find
no copies.
Not in Medina, BHA. Folded as issued; lower margin irregular with mild damp damage. (33489)

A Bespoke Cedulario for
Use in New Spain & Guatemala
(Spanish Royal Decrees). An assemblage of 43 manuscript and printed royal and viceroyal decrees and some 25 related documents. Barcelona, Madrid, Valldolid (Spain), Aranjuez, Mexico City, & elsewhere: 1701–79. Small 4to, folio, & larger. Approximately 135 ff.
$8275.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Explaining why manuscript cedularios were made in the era of the printing press is called for here, and the answer is simple: The number of copies that were printed of any given royal cédula tended to be smaller than the number of lawyers, clerks, judges, and other legal sorts who needed a copy. And within months of the issuance of the decree, no printed copies were available for love or money. Owning the various editions of the Recopilación de leyes de Indias was insufficient, for most cédulas related to
specific issues peculiar to one person, place, institution, or event, and such specificity is not included in the recopilaciones, though the royal decrees provided good, useful precedents to cite.
QED: Every colonial-era lawyer had to resort to maintaining his own cedulario.
This cedulario was assembled in Mexico during the 18th century, probably around 1778 or 1780, for the use of a lawyer before the audiencia, or perhaps for an audiencia judge or a judge's staff member. The decrees relate to a wide variety of topics: criminal cases, the army and navy, confiscation of property, the use of stamped paper, the royal treasury, royal officials in Nicaragua, cabildos, proselytization of Indians, commodities, dress codes, bigamy, and other social matters in the regions of Mexico, New Galicia, and Guatemala. Of the 43 items, 22 are printed decrees (all but one printed in Spain) and the remaining 21 are manuscript. Fifteen bear
true (rather than stamped) royal signatures: six are signed by Felipe V, and nine are by Ferdinand VI. Of the 28 documents not signed by a king, 17 are printed and 11 are manuscript.
The documents are sewn and were once bound; binding removed some time ago. 18th-century numbering of documents shows that 10 documents were removed som time before the collection came into our hands. There are some stains, a few holes at folds, a few edges a little tattered — nothing worse.
A sound and interesting collection. (34851)

Printing in America
BEFORE the Bay Psalm Book
Szewczyk, David, & Buffington, Cynthia Davis. 39 books and broadsides printed in America before the Bay Psalm Book. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Rare Books & Manuscripts Company, 1988. 8vo (23.5 cm; 9.25"). ix, [1], 135, [1] pp., [2] ff.
$70.00
Click the images for enlargements.
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 the 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 16-century New World broadsides.
Limited to 250 copies. Each item fully described bibliographically and illustrated as well.
Publisher's cloth. New. (36766)
Villagutierre Sotomayor, Juan de. Historia de la conquista de la provincia de el Itza, reduccion, y progressos de la de el Lacandon, y otras naciones de indios barbaros, de la mediacion de el reyno de Guatimala, a las provincias de Yucatan, en la America septentrional. Madrid: Lucas Antonio de Bedmar y Narvaez, 1701. Folio (28.5 cm; 11.5"). Engr. “frontispiece,” [32] ff., 660 pp., [17] ff.
$28,750.00
Click any image above for an enlargement.
Although the author never set foot in the New World, his high position in the Consejo de Indias and other royal councils gave him access to much important documentation for the writing of this prized history of the conquest of the Izta Maya and the attempted conquest of the Lacandón Indians during the last decades of the 17th century; the conquest of Petén and the misadventures of Roque de Soberanis y Senteno and Martín de Urzúa, two governors of the Yucatán make for very exciting reading.
This is the first published book dedicated solely to the history of the Yucatán and the Maya, here offered in its first edition, first issue (with the incorrect catchword “gla” at the foot of the recto of the 22nd preliminary leaf).
Bedmar y Narvaez printed the title-page in black and red and the text is in double-column format. This copy bears both the engraved “frontispiece” and the black and red title-page, but, as usual, not the very rare colophon.
Although touted as “Primera parte” on the title-page, there were no further parts; this Historia is complete, “all published.”
Palau 366681; Medina, Biblioteca hispano-americana, 2051; Sabin 99643; Leclerc 1546; Salvá 3422; Heredia 3407; Alden & Landis, European Americana, 701/262. On Villagutierre, see: Archivo biográfico de España, Portugal, e Iberoamérica, fiche 1019, frames 213–16. 19th-century Spanish sheep (“pasta española”), covers abraded and with pinhole-type worming to spine; loss of lower inch of spine leather to insects. Browning to text due to impurities in water during paper manufacture. Small insect damage to margins of first four leaves, not touching any text; similar small damage in inner margins of last four leaves. Over all, a decent copy of a scarce work. (13286)
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