Recent terrible earthquakes remind us that these devastating movements of the earth's crust are nothing new. One such disaster is recalled in Earthquake of Juan Fernandez, as it occurred in the year 1835. This 1839 account was written by the former Governor of that island, Thomas Sutcliffe. Juan Fernandez is a distant island off the coast of Chile, which suffered a quake at the same time as several other locations, including the mainland of Chile. While Sutcliffe was focused on what had occurred on Juan Fernandez, Charles Darwin, who at the time was doing research in South America that would lead to his more famous later works, wrote on the scientific aspects of these widely scattered, simultaneous shocks. He concluded it was caused by the slow uplifting of mountains, an insight worthy of such an original thinker. Item 69 is Sutcliffe's less theoretical work. $1,250.

In addition to the main catalogue, Libreria de Antano has sent out a half-size pamphlet entitled Cuba. It contains books related, naturally, to that island. You may reach Libreria de Antano at (5411) 4822-7178 or info@antano.com.ar.