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R I C H A R D C. R A M E R
Special List 543
Mexican Imprints
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r i c h a r d c . r a m e r
R I C H A R D C . R A M E R
Old and Rare Books
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Special List 543
Mexican Imprints
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s pe c i a l l i s t 5 4 3
Special List 543
Mexican Imprints
1. Aranzel de los derechos que han de percebir los Receptores de la Real
Audencia de esta corte. [Colophon] Mexico: Imprenta Real de Doña Maria
de Rivera, 1742. Folio (29 x 20.2 cm.), loose in much later folder. Caption
title. In good condition. 6 pp.
$600.00
FIRST and ONLY EDITION.
❊ Medina, La imprenta en Mexico 3591. OCLC: 55254574. WorldCat locates a single
copy, in the Biblioteca Nacional de Chile.
2. BARBOSA, P. Fr. Francisco de la Concepcion. Catedra de Prima en
que Jesus pendiente, enseña la sabiduria toda con sus siete palabras. Septenario
devoto a Jesus Cruci�cado, dedicado al mismo Señor, en favor de los devotos
de su Santisima Pasion. Mexico: Imprenta de los Herederos del Lic. D.
Joseph de Jauregui, 1795. 16°, unbound, stitched (�rst and last leaves
detached). Full-page primitive woodcut of cruci�xion on verso of title
page. Typographical ornament at end of text. Very minor foxing and
spotting. Good condition. (16 ll.).
$250.00
A seven-day devotion, based on Christ’s last words.
Fray Francisco de la Concepción was a native of Mexico, and became a Franciscan
in the province of Santo Evangelio. A zealous preacher, he was a missionary in the Cole-
gio de Propaganda Fide in Querétaro and librarian of the Convento Grande de Mexico.
❊ Medina Mexico 8466. Palau 23814 (cites editions of 1732, 1733, 1769, 1774, and
1795). Cf. Beristain y Souza, Biblioteca hispano-americana septentrional I, 131: citing an
edition of Mexico, 1732. NUC: locates only a single copy of the 1791 edition at MnU.
OCLC: 1238111419 (John Carter Brown Library, Biblioteca Nacional de Chile); 26107788
(DIBAM-Serpat); for the Mexico, 1769 edition: 55276428 (Biblioteca Nacional de Chile,
DIBAM-Serpat); for the Mexico, 1791 edition: 26084504 (Florida State University, Uni-
versity of Minnesota-Minneapolis, DIBAM-Serpat); 1318295811 (Biblioteca Nacional de
Chile); 80045627 (no location given); for the Mexico, 1819 edition: 55238504 (Biblioteca
Nacional de Chile, DIBAM-Serpat); 915804900 (University of Dayton). No edition located
in CCPBE. No edition located in Rebiun. No edition located in Jisc.
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Sir Thomas Phillipps’ Copy
3. [BOLGENI, Giovanni Vincenzo]. El Obispado, disertacion sobre la
potestad de gobernar la Iglesia, en que se demuestra la divina institucion de
su gerarquía. Traducida del italiano al español por un sacerdote secular. Parte
primera [and Segunda]. Nuevamente corregida. 2 parts in 1 volume. Mexico:
Imprenta de Galvan a cargo de Mariano Arevalo, 1829. 4°, contemporary
quarter green (faded) sheep over marbled boards (some scraping and
other wear), �at spine gilt, text block edges sprinkled. Minor stains;
5 cm. tear in leaf 13/4 of part I, without loss. Overall in good to very
good condition. From the library of Sir Thomas Phillipps, with his shelf
mark and pencilled “MHC” on front pastedown. (1 l.), vi, 311; 260 pp.
Lacking pp. 209-16 of the second part. Page 255 of part 2 incorrectly
numbered 155.
2 parts in 1 volume.
$150.00
First Mexican Edition of this Spanish translation of Bolgeni’s
L’Episcopato, Rome 1789.
Provenance: Sir Thomas Phillipps, 1st Baronet (1792-1872) was an English antiquary
and book collector who amassed the largest collection of manuscript material in the
19th century, due to his severe condition of bibliomania. He was an illegitimate son of a
textile manufacturer and inherited a substantial estate, which he spent almost entirely
on vellum manuscripts, and, when out of funds, borrowed heavily to buy manuscripts,
thereby putting his family deep into debt. Phillipps began his collecting while still at
Rugby and continued at Oxford. Eventually he acquired some 40,000 printed books and
60,000 manuscripts, arguably the largest collection a single individual has created, and
coined the term “vello-maniac” to describe his obsession. A.N.L. Munby notes that he
spent perhaps between two hundred thousand and a quarter of a million pounds, alto-
gether four or �ve thousand pounds a year, while accessions came in at the rate of forty
or �fty a week. He was an assiduous cataloguer who established the Middle Hill Press
(named after his country seat at Broadway, Worcestershire) in 1822 not only to record
his book holdings but also to publish his �ndings in English topography and genealogy.
Ultimately, the dispersal of his collection took over 100 years. A �ve-volume history
of the collection and its dispersal, Phillipps Studies, by A. N. L. Munby was published
between 1951 and 1960.
❊ Not in Palau; cf. 197773-4 for the Madrid, 1792 and 1824 editions. Not located in
NUC. OCLC: This edition not in OCLC, which cites an edition in Spanish of La Coruña,
1814 (630228468: Universidade de Valladolid). This edition not in CCPBE, which cites
the Coruña 1814 edition (24 locations, mostly in Galicia), and that of Madrid 1824 (42
locations given). Rebiun cites the same two editions at a number of locations.
Care and Feeding of a Garrison Whose Mission was to Fend O� Pirates
Near the Yucatán
4. BUCARELI Y URSÚA [Hinostrosa Lasso de la Vega], Fr. D. Anto-
nio Maria, Viceroy of New Spain (1771-1779). Reglamento provisional
para el prest, vestuario, grati�caciones, hospitalidad, recluta, disciplina y
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total govierno de la tropa que debe guarnecer el Presidio de Nuestra Señora
del Carmen de la Isla de Tris en la Laguna de Término, dispuesto, en virtud
de Real Orden de once de Septiembre de mil setecientos setenta y tres, por ….
Mexico: En la Imprenta de D. Felipe de Zuñiga y Ontiveros, 1774. Folio
(31 x 20.5 cm.), recent navy Oasis morocco, spine with raised bands in
six compartments, crimson Oasis lettering piece on front cover, gilt let-
ter, antique marbled endleaves. Large woodcut Spanish royal arms on
title-page. Woodcut initials. Typographical headpiece. Tables in text. In
very good to �ne condition. Old (contemporary?) ink numbers “158”,
“175”, and “187” at upper right corner of title page and each divisional
title. (1 l.), 32, 23, 15 pp. [ ]3, B-S2.
$2,600.00
FIRST EDITION of these regulations for the administration of the Spanish garrison
housed in the fortress of the Isla del Carmen (Yucatán Peninsula), which had been built
as a permanent home for the soldiers tasked with rebu�ng the pirates who had been
ousted from the island a few decades earlier, and who continued to attack it. Included
are positions and salaries of all personnel and regulations for clothing, horses, weapons,
a hospital, and a chapel.
The second section (drop-title: Instruccion para el govierno interior y buen régimen
de la Guarnicion del Presidio del Carmen, que observarán puntualmente los Comandantes
de los tres Cuerpos que la componen, igualmente que el Governador en la parte que le
toque) goes into quite speci�c detail about the uniforms for dragoons, infantry, and artillery;
housing for married soldiers; preserving morale; care of horses; and artillery exercises.
The third section (drop title: Instruccion y metodo con que se ha de establecer el
Hospital para la tropa de la Guarnicion del Presidio de Nuestra Señora del Carmen,
y en que se expresan las obligaciones de cada uno de los Individuos empleados en su
servicio) deals with the hospital and the duties of those employed there, including cooks,
pharmacists, surgeons, blood-letters, and nurses.
Despite the separate pagination, the quire signatures follow from the �rst section
through the third. An edition with additions by Pedro Gorostiza was published in
Mexico, 1791 (56 pp.).
The Isla de Tris, on a lagoon at the western end of the Yucatán Peninsula, was dis-
covered by the Spanish in 1518 but left uncolonized. By 1558, it was a haven for English
pirates in the western Gulf of Mexico. Through the seventeenth century, repeated Spanish
expeditions failed to roust the pirates. Finally in 1716 the pirates were driven out and a
Spanish garrison installed, but the pirates continued to return and to burn the temporary
forts. Only in the 1750s-1760s was a more permanent fort constructed. The regulations
here are for the garrison that defended that fort.
In 1786, more than a decade after this work appeared, the Alcalde Mayor of Tabasco,
Francisco de Amuzquivar, sent militia from Tabasco and swept the last of the pirates
from the island. The island is now the site of Ciudad del Carmen.
❊ Medina, Mexico 5674. Palau 36497. Sabin 68885. NUC: RPJCB. OCLC: 20385026
(University of California-Berkeley, Newberry Library, with 1 p. l., 32, 23, 15 pp.); 55283635
(Biblioteca Nacional de Chile, with 32, 23, 15 pp.); 651259688 (Biblioteca Nacional de
Mexico, 32, 23, 15 pp.); 228720975 (Huntington Library, 32, 23, 15 pp.); 55281978 (John
Carter Brown Library, Biblioteca Nacional de Chile, calling for 32 pp.); 458945694 (Biblio-
thèque nationale de France, 32 pp.); also digitized and microform copies. Rebiun locates
a copy of a work with the same title at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, but
gives the date as “s.n., 1791, 12 de Noviembre”). Not located in CCPBE. Jisc locates only
a micro�che copy at the National Library of Scotland.
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Laments the Low Price of Henequen; Calls for Establishment of a Bank
5. CANTON, R[udolfo] G. Proyecto sobre la formacion de una sociedad y
banco agricola. Varias relaciones relativa al Henequen. Merida: Imprenta
de la Libreria Meridana de Canton, 1876. 8°, original beige printed
wrappers (nicked at edges). In good to very good condition. Inscribed
by author on title. to Sr. Steph. Salisburg Jr., dated 1877. 28 pp.
$500.00
FIRST and ONLY EDITION. Canton (a publisher as well as an author, judging
from the imprint) deplores the current drop in the price of henequen and the scarcity of
coinage in the Yucatán. He urges that landowners form an association to promote their
interests and establish a bank to improve the �ow of capital. In the section dealing with
henequen in particular (pp. 17-24), Canton notes that the producers of the Yucatán have
long been at the mercy of New York to sell their product, and gives details of prices and
tari�s for trade with New York and the United States.
Henequen is a variety of agave similar to sisal, used for twine and cordage. Yucatan
produces a large portion of the world’s henequen. From colonial times until well into the
twentieth century, henequen was raised on large plantations owned by a few land owners.
❊ Not in Palau. OCLC: 23852190 (University of Texas at Austin). Not located in
CCPBE. Not located in KVK (51 databases searched).
First Constitution of the Mexican State of Chihuahua
Applied to Parts of Present-Day Texas, Arizona and New Mexico
Abolishes Slavery
6. [CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO]. Constitucion politica del Estado Libre de
Chihuahua sancionada por su Congreso Constituyente en 7 de Diciembre
de 1825. Reimpresa en Chihuahua: En la o�cina del Gobierno á cargo
de Francisco Carrasco, 1826. 4°, disbound. In very good condition.
32 pp.
$3,800.00
Very rare early reprinting of the �rst constitution of the free Mexican state of Chi-
huahua, which then included the future city of El Paso, Texas. At the time Chihuahua
also included parts of present day Arizona and New Mexico, which were later ceded to
the United States in the Gadsden Purchase, 1853-1854. Titulo II, article 7, page 5 abolishes
slavery In Chihuahua; the institution was abolished throughout Mexico only in 1829.
This is one of the earliest works printed in Chihuahua. It is long and speci�c on the rights
and obligations of the “Chihuahuenses” encompassing 21 “Titulos” with 129 articles.
❊ Eberstadt, Catalogue 167 (1965), item 373. This edition not in Palau (cf.
59717). No edition in Streeter, Bibliography of Texas, 1795-1845. OCLC: 20220508 (Yale
University, University of Arizona, Internet resource—the Yale copy digitized). See
also 79998502 and 1026618736 (the original Chihuahua 1825 edition, both records
refer to the American Philosophical Society only); and 16518065 (a later 1826 edi-
tion reprinted at Mexico City; located at Newberry Library, Tulane University). No
edition of this first constitution of Chihuahua located in CCPBE. None located in
Jisc. None located in KVK (51 databases searched).