Clavijero, Francisco Javier; Francisco Pablo Vazquez and Nicolas Garcia de San Vicente (trans.)

Historia Antigua de Mejico sacada de los Mejores Historiadores Españoles… [AND] Historia de la Antigua ó Baja California (Biblioteca Nacional y Extranjera, Tomo II) [INCLUDING] Relalyción Histórica de la Vida del Venerable Padre Fray Junípero Serra

Mexico: Juan R. Navarro, 1853; 1852. Thirty-two lithographic plates. Second Mexican edition (first thus of Francisco Pablo Vázquez’s Spanish translation from the Italian) of Historia Antigua de Mejico; First Mexican edition of Historia de la Antigua ó Baja. Rebacked leather spine stamped in gilt over original embossed purple paper-covered boards. All parts bound in single volume. Quarto. [xii], [1]-439, [v, Index]; [xiv], [1]-252, [vi, Index]. 11" x 7" Spine scuffed and rubbed with short splits top joints, boards rubbed with some abrasions, off setting rear, wear to corners and less so overall. Double-column pages and plates toned, some sections darkened by printer’s ink, otherwise a serviceable and tight copy. Item #243382

18TH CENTURY HISTORY OF MESOAMERICA

The Jesuits in Mexico made it their business to acquire books, documents and codices spanning pre-colonial and post-colonial history, an attractive collection for assorted scholarly pursuits. The history of Mesoamerica, depicted in colorful pictorial images painted on deerskin or bark and in a variety of formats, provided a valuable narrative history for the Mixtec and Oaxacan people. The Aztec Codex formed the core of Clavijero’s humanist-inspired history, Historia Antiqua de Mejico (1780) published more than 10 years after the Jesuits were expelled from Mexico in 1767 and Clavijero was forced to relocate to Italy. The first edition appeared in Italian, translated from the original manuscript in Spanish, and was widely admired and subsequently published in German, then English. The Spanish language edition published in Mexico appeared much later. Clavijero’s work is still considered foundational in understanding and interpreting the history of Mesoamerica.

Combined in sammelband, this is a very scarce and respectable copy of one of the most important early histories of Mexico and California.

[Sabin 13521, 13523BAL 465; Eberstadt 106: 40, for a thorough publication history, see "Bibliografia" in the 1917 Spanish edition].

Price: $1,250.00