Latin American Independence
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CATALOGUE TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY-FOUR Latin American Independence WILLIAM REESE COMPANY 409 Temple Street New Haven, CT 06511 (203) 789-8081 A Note This catalogue traces the story of the collapse of the Spanish Empire in the New World and the establishment of independent countries in its wake. Arranged chrono- logically, it begins with the precursor revolutions in the French Caribbean islands and the takeover of Louisiana by the United States. The heart of the catalogue covers the revolutions in South and Central America between 1806 and the 1830s. Highspots include an association copy of Arrowsmith’s great atlas of 1816, a huge collection of early Buenos Aires imprints, some remarkable documents relating to the takeover of Louisiana by the U.S., the official printing of the 1821 Mexican Declaration of Independence, and a series of important broadsides relating to the 1820 revolution in Caracas. An index follows the final entry. Available on request are our recent catalogues: 276, The Caribbean; 277, The American West in the 19th Century; 278, World Trade: The First Age of Globalization; 279, Pacific Voyages; 281, Americana in PRINTING AND THE MIND OF MAN; 282, Recent Acquisitions in Americana; and 283, American Presidents. Some of our catalogues, as well as some recent topical lists, are now posted on the Internet at www.reeseco.com. A portion of our stock may be viewed via links at www. reeseco.com. If you would like to receive e-mail notification when catalogues and lists are uploaded, please e-mail us at [email protected] or send us a fax, specifying whether you would like to receive the notifications in lieu of or in addition to paper catalogues. Terms Material herein is offered subject to prior sale. All items are as described and are con- sidered to be on approval. Notice of return must be given within ten days unless specific arrangements are made. Connecticut residents must be billed state sales tax. Postage and insurance charges are billed to all nonprepaid domestic orders. Overseas orders are sent by air unless otherwise requested, with full postage charges billed at our discretion. Payment by check, wire transfer or bank draft is preferred, but may also be made by MasterCard or Visa. William Reese Company Phone: (203) 789-8081 409 Temple Street Fax: (203) 865-7653 New Haven, CT 06511 E-mail: [email protected] FRONT COVER: 84. [Mexico – Declaration of Independence]: La Regencia del Imperio.... 1821. REAR COVER: 45. [Venezuela – Junta Suprema Gubernativa]: Americanos.... Caracas. 1811. The Beginnings of Major Troubles in St. Domingue 1. [Haiti]: RELATION AUTHENTIQUE DE TOUT CE QUI S’EST PASSE A SAINT-DOMINGUE AVANT ET APRES LE DEPART FORCE DE L’ASSEMBLEE COLONIALE...AVEC LA CORRE- SPONDANCE DES SIEURS DE PEYNIER, GOUVERNEUR, COUTARD, ET AUTRES COMMANDANTS ET OFFICIERS TANT DE TERRE QUE DE MER. [Np, but St. Domingue, probably Au Cap. 1790]. 74pp. Modern three-quarter calf and boards. Repaired paper loss in titlepage approximately 1½ inches in diameter, affecting first three letters of title. Light soiling on titlepage and second leaf; very minor foxing. Good. Untrimmed, several signatures unopened. “A partisan account of the disturbances at Port-au-Prince and Saint Marc during July and August, 1790” – Garrett. Though Bissainthe indicates that this imprint is Parisian, the crudeness and nature of the printing is such that we believe it more likely that it was actually printed in Saint Domingue. From imprints handled by this firm we know that there was a rich print culture in St. Domingue on the verge of the revolution. There were presses at St. Marc, Port-au-Prince, and Cap Français, with probably two or three different printers at each of the last two. All Caribbean printing is quite rare. Only nine copies of this work located in OCLC. BISSAINTHE 7687. SABIN 75187. GARRETT, FRENCH COLONIAL QUESTION 159. OCLC 20694712, 77725342. $4000. Early Martinique Imprint 2. [Martinique]: RELATION AUTHENTIQUE DES EVENEMENS QUI SE SONT PASSES AU FORT-BOURBON DE LA MARTI- NIQUE [caption title]. St. Pierre: Imprimerie de P. Richard & le Cadre, 1790. 8pp. on a folded sheet. Toned. Very good. In a half morocco clamshell case, cloth chemise. A very early Martinique imprint, which refers to the horrors of the slave revolt there and gives a play-by-play account of the events that unfolded at Fort Bourbon. The first recorded printing on the island listed by Swan is in 1784, but we have handled a newspaper from 1780 and have seen in commerce an imprint from 1762. As with so much else to do with early Caribbean printing, the story of the press on Marti- nique is shrouded in mystery. Only one copy in OCLC, at Columbia University. SWAN, CARIBBEAN PRINTING, p.32. OCLC 123200325. $3000. An Unrecorded St. Domingue Imprint 3. [St. Domingue]: ADRESSE DE L’ASSEMBLEE PROVINCIALE DE LA PARTIE DU NORD DE ST. DOMINGUE, A L’ASSEMBLEE NATIONALE, DANS LAQUELLE ON PROPOSE LES MOYENS DE RAPPELLER LA CONFIANCE, LE CALME & LA CON- CORDE, & DE FIXER L’UNION ETERNELLE DE LA COLONIE AVEC LA FRANCE [caption title]. [Cap Français]. June 28, 1790. 12pp. Folded sheets, unstitched. Dampstained. About very good. Untrimmed. In a half morocco and cloth clamshell case with cloth chemise. This apparently unrecorded St. Domingue imprint is an official colonial document issued by the Assemblée Provinciale du Nord of St. Domingue, in which the As- semblée Provinciale addresses the Assemblée Nationale with the aim of settling some of the unrest in the colony, caused in part by the French Revolution, but by this time spreading to slave revolts in the French colony. Sabin and Bissainthe both list only a Paris edition of this imprint (23pp.). No copies of this imprint are located in OCLC, and it is evidently unique. This imprint serves to illustrate the remarkable print culture of pre-Revolutionary St. Domingue, by far the richest of French sugar colonies. From imprints handled by this firm we know that there were presses at St. Marc, Port-au-Prince, and Cap Français, with probably two or three different printers at each of the last two. Among imprints this firm sold to the John Carter Brown Library there is a Port-au-Prince edition of this pamphlet, issued by the official printer, Mozard. The present piece, printed in Cap Français, where the Provincial Assembly had met, is in all prob- ability the first edition. That two separate editions of such a work were issued in a Caribbean colony in the 18th century is in itself remarkable. That each survives in a unique copy illustrates how little we know about early Caribbean imprints. Another edition: SABIN 75040. BISSAINTHE, DICTIONNAIRE DE BIBLIOGRAPHIE HAITI- ENNE 4382. $3000. 4. Perez y Lopez, Antonio Xavier: TEATRO DE LA LEGISLACION UNIVERSAL DE ESPAÑA É INDIAS. Madrid. 1791-1798. Twenty- eight volumes. Small quarto. Modern half calf and marbled paper boards, red and green labels, a.e. red. A clean, very nice set, with only a bit of minor dampstaining and the odd spot or paper flaw in all the many volumes. An important, practical, dictionary-like guide to the complicated plethora of leg- islation (en)acted in the Spanish legal “theater.” An especially useful shortcut to finding royal decrees, court decisions, etc., on any of the thousands of topics indexed. PALAU 221275. SABIN 60899. $4000. 5. [Peru]: REGLAMENTO PARA LAS MILICIAS DE INFANTERÍA Y CABALLERÍA DE LA ISLA DE CUBA...QUE DEBE OBSER- VARSE EN TODO LO ADAPTABLE A LAS TROPAS DE MI- LICIAS DEL REYNO DE PERU.... Lima. 1793. [4],108,[14]pp. plus twelve (of thirteen) folding letterpress tables. Original decorative wrappers bound into later mottled calf, spine gilt, leather label. Extremities rubbed. Old ink stamp on titlepage; light scattered foxing. Very good. Military regulations for troops under the control of the Spanish commander in Cuba, with tables showing the organization of troops, distribution, arms issued, and the like. The second Lima edition of this work, after the first of 1779, intended to serve as a model for the organization of troops there. It was first printed in Madrid in 1769 and reprinted in Havana in 1777. In a larger sense, these regulations were part of Galvez’s reforms of the Spanish empire in America, and would have had a direct impact on Louisiana, as troops from Cuba were used to crush the Louisiana Conspiracy of 1768 in 1769, the year these orders were promulgated. Needless to say, quite rare. Only two copies are listed in OCLC, at the John Carter Brown Library and the National Library of Chile. MEDINA (LIMA) 1775. VARGAS UGARTE 2660. OCLC 55243520, 82622709. $2500. 6. [Guadeloupe]: PÉTITION A LA CONVENTION NATIONALE, PAR LES PATRIOTES, CITOYENS DE COULEUR, DÉPORTÉS PAR LES ANGLAIS ET DÉBARQUÉS A ROCHEFORT, APRÈS S’ÊTRE RENDUS MAITRES DES TRANSPORTS No. 34 ET 42 PAR LE 41me DEGRÉ DE LATITUDE NORD [caption title]. Paris. [1794]. 19pp. Quarto. Stitched as issued. Remnants of paper wrappers along spine edge. Lightly soiled. Very good. Untrimmed. In the 1790s, with the advent of the French Revolution, revolts broke out in many of France’s Caribbean colonies, including Guadeloupe, where a sharp division oc- curred between the monarchists and the republicans, resulting in control of the island by the monarchists. One of the divisive issues on Guadeloupe was slavery and the rights of free people of color. A commission speaking on behalf of the “citoyens de couleur” was actively at work in Paris, striving to end the slave trade and abolish slavery. This commission was successful in its lobby, and the French government abolished slavery in 1794. In order to maintain control of the island, the monarchists asked for British assistance, with the result that the island was occupied by Britain from April to December 1794.