The Present state of Peru:
comprising its geography, topography, natural history, mineralogy, commerce, the customs and manners of its inhabitants, the state of literature, philosophy, and the arts, the modern travels of the missionaries in the heretofore unexplored mountainous territories, &c. &c. / the whole drawn from original and authentic documents, chiefly written and compiled in the Peruvian capital; and embellished by twenty engravings of costumes, &c.
Stock Code 114386
London, Phillips, 1805
Original price
£2,500.00
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Original price
£2,500.00
Original price
£0.00
£2,500.00
£2,500.00
-
£2,500.00
Current price
£2,500.00
A translated abridgement of Mercurio Peruano, a biweekly newspaper published in Lima between 1791 and 1795, a clutch of which fell into the hands of the editor after the capture of the Spanish galleon St. Jago and its treasure (some £133 million in today's money) in 1795. Original authors include Jacinti Calero y Moreira, Hipólito Unanue, José Baquíjano y Carrillo and José Rossi y Rubí. These young writers belonged to the Society of Lovers of the Country and subscribed to the ideas of the Enlightenment.
The translation itself is uneven, but conveys the intent of the authors in their papers and gives a near contemporary account of Lima and Peru at a time when the nation was trying to discover and define its cultural identity. This remains one of the few English works with colour plates on South America.
First edition; 4to (27 x 22 cm); 20 hand-coloured stipple-engraved plates, a little trimmed as usual without loss, amorial bookplate to paste-down, mottling to some gatherings, plates fine; contemporary tree calf, gilt flat spine with gilt morocco lettering piece, all edges speckled, a little rubbing to extremities, upper board joint split professionally repaired, a very good copy; xiv, 487, [1]pp.
Abbey (Travel), 723; Colas 2751; Lipperheide 1629; Sabin 81615.
The translation itself is uneven, but conveys the intent of the authors in their papers and gives a near contemporary account of Lima and Peru at a time when the nation was trying to discover and define its cultural identity. This remains one of the few English works with colour plates on South America.
First edition; 4to (27 x 22 cm); 20 hand-coloured stipple-engraved plates, a little trimmed as usual without loss, amorial bookplate to paste-down, mottling to some gatherings, plates fine; contemporary tree calf, gilt flat spine with gilt morocco lettering piece, all edges speckled, a little rubbing to extremities, upper board joint split professionally repaired, a very good copy; xiv, 487, [1]pp.
Abbey (Travel), 723; Colas 2751; Lipperheide 1629; Sabin 81615.
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