Travels in Various Parts of Peru,

A stark account of a journey from London to Peru through Brazil and Argentina that describes the greatly diminished city of Potosi, with costumes of the cities inhabitants depicted in one of the hand-coloured plates, and much detail on mining of the area. The Abbey copy is uncoloured.

Edmond Temple set out for Peru in September 1825 to take up the position of secretary at the Potosi Mining Association. Potosi had been founded in 1546 when Bolivia was still part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, and over the following two hundred years 40,000 tons of silver left its mines to enrich the coffers of Spain. The Spanish forced the Inca to work in the mines along with over 30,000 imported African slaves. The mortality rate was so high that by the time Temple arrived in 1826 the silver mines were nearly exhausted and the population of the city had dropped from 200,000 to 10,000. Temple's attitude was no less ignorant of the peoples he encountered, describing the Gauchos of Patagonia as 'little better than a species of carnivorous baboon'.

Edward Brainerd Webb (1820-1879) was an acclaimed engineer and oversaw several of the railways that were built in the regions Temple passed through to access Peru including the Mauá railway in Brazil, the Buenos Aires and Rosario Railway in Argentina, the railway of Monte Video in Uruguay, and the Barranquilla railway in Colombia.

First edition; 2 vols in 1, 8vo (22 x 15 cm); complete with 5 hand-coloured aquatint plates and 3 hand-coloured lithograph plates and monochrome map, 17 in-text woodcut vignettes, armorial bookplate to front pastedown, a touch of foxing to plates but not affecting images, otherwise clean and tight internally; 19th-century half green calf, boards marbled, gilt spine bands with gilt red morocco lettering piece, all edges marbled, later endpapers, boards slightly rubbed, spine darkened with small splits to head band but holding, inner hinges cracked but firm; xvi, 431, viii, 504pp.

Abbey (Travel), 725.