PlazaBooks recently printed their List34. Plaza focuses on Latin America, Central America in particular. This time, the selection is even more focused, being almost entirely centered on Mexico. Naturally, many of the works are also related to that large neighbor to the north. Mexico spent several centuries under the control of Spain, a few under the French, and the rest of the time eying warily the moves of the giant to the north. It hasn't been easy, and Mexico produced its share of home-grown tyrants as well, but all of the travails have certainly not made for a dull history. Here are some of the items pertaining to that history now offered by Plaza Books.
Item 2 is a broadside from the Viceroy of New Spain, Francisco de la Cueva, the 19th Duke of Alburquerque, to the Governor of New Mexico, dated August 8, 1710. In it, the Viceroy requests funds to support their fleet, which Plaza points out, was “not of much concern in Santa Fe.” Nonetheless, the Viceroy explains all the benefits to New Spain of its fleet, such as promoting commerce, safety, and defending the faith. We do not know how many, if any, funds New Mexico sent to support this endeavor. The largest city in New Mexico (now, not then) was named after this Duke, though somewhere along the way, the first “r” in the name “Alburquerque” was lost. Priced at $1,750.
Americans have always seen opportunity in Mexico. In some instances, they simply wanted seize the land. The Mexican War, Gadsden Purchase, and Texas Revolution left many Mexicans a bit wary of their neighbor's intent. In other cases, Americans looked to settle or exploit the land, but at least within the bounds of recognizing Mexican sovereignty. Item 14 is an example of the latter form of seeking Mexican land: BorderStatesofMexico:Sonora,ChihuahuaandDurango...Acompletedescriptionofthebestregionsforthesettler,minerandtheadvanceguardofAmericancivilization. Author Leonidas Hamilton of San Francisco believed there were great opportunities for Americans to invest in Mexico, particularly its northern states. Hamilton, an attorney, was particularly familiar with Mexican mining law. Offered is a second edition from 1881, same year as the first. $600.
Item 34 is from a man who attempted to seize northern Mexico without regard to that nation's sovereignty. William Walker mounted an invasion from California in 1853, hoping to take over the state of Sonora and Baja California. He expected support for his mission from those who believed in American expansion, along with southerners who wanted to see the expansion of slavery. He was able to briefly seize Baja California, and declared slavery legal, but Mexico responded with greater force than Walker anticipated. He was pushed back across the border. However, Walker was not deterred, and a few years later, made another attempt to seize land in Central America, this time targeting Nicaragua. Amazingly, he was successful, gaining control of that nation in 1856. He legalized slavery, but antagonized business interests in America. Late that year, a coalition of Central American neighbors forced him to retreat back to America. Again, Walker was undaunted. He made another attempt at Nicaragua, only to be intercepted by the British and sent home. It was then that he wrote this book, TheWarinNicaragua. It was published in 1860, the year Walker made his third assault on Nicaragua, only to again be intercepted by the British. This time, they turned him over to the Hondurans, who promptly executed Walker. $950.
Gonnelli Auction 59 Antique prints, paintings and maps May 20th 2025
Gonnelli: Pietro Aquila, Psyche and Proserpina,1690. Starting price 140€
Gonnelli: Jacques Gamelin, Memento homo quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris, 1779. Starting price 300€
Gonnelli: Giorgio Ghisi, The final Judgement, 1680. Starting price 480€
Gonnelli Auction 59 Antique prints, paintings and maps May 20th 2025
Gonnelli Goya y Lucientes Francisco, Los Proverbios.1877. Starting price 1000 €
Gonnelli: Domenico Peruzzini, Long bearded old man, 1660. Starting price 2200€
Gonnelli: Enea Vico, Leda and the Swan,1542. Starting price 140€
Gonnelli Auction 59 Antique prints, paintings and maps May 20th 2025
Gonnelli: Andrea Del Sarto [school of], San Giovanni Battista, 1570. Starting price 25000€
Gonnelli: Carlo Maratta, Virgin Mary and Jesus, 1660. Starting Price 1200€
Gonnelli: Louis Brion de La Tour, Sphére de Copernic Sphere de Ptolemée / Le Systême de Ptolemée. Le Systême de Ticho-Brahe…, 1766. Starting price 180€
Gonnelli Auction 59 Antique prints, paintings and maps May 20th 2025
Gonnelli: Marc’Antonio Dal Re, Ville di Delizia o Siano Palaggi Camparecci nello Stato di Milano Divise in Sei Tomi Con espressevi le Piante…, Tomo Primo, 1726. Starting price 7000€
Gonnelli: Katsushika Hokusai, Bird on a branch, 1843. Starting price 100€
Dominic Winter, May 14: Taylor (John). All the Workes of John Taylor the Water-Poet..., 1630. £1,000-1,500
Dominic Winter, May 14: Pierpont Morgan Collection. Catalogue of the Morgan Collection of Chinese Porcelains, 1904 & 1906. £2,000-3,000
Swann, May 15: Lot 4: Helena Bochoráková-Dittrichová, Z Mého Detství Drevoryty, Prague: Obzina, 1929. First trade edition, signed by the artist. $4,000 to $6,000.
Swann, May 15: Lot 10: Nancy Cunard, Negro Anthology, with a tipped-in A.L.S. to Karl Marx's niece, 1934. First edition. $3,000 to $5,000.
Swann, May 15: Lot 14: Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century, 1845. First edition. $4,000 to $6,000.
Swann, May 15: Lot 17: Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun, inscribed first edition, 1959. $2,000 to $3,000.
Swann, May 15: Lot 28: Margaret Hill Morris, Private Journal Kept during a Portion of the Revolutionary War, for the Amusement of a Sister, 1836. First edition. $3,000 to $4,000.
Swann, May 15: Lot 38: Anna Sewell, Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse, 1877. First edition. $3,000 to $5,000.
Swann, May 15: Lot 43: Gertrude Stein, Portrait of Mabel Dodge at the Villa Curonia, signed presentation copy with photograph of Stein, 1912. First edition. $8,000 to $12,000.
Swann, May 15: Lot 48: Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse, first edition in the scarce dust jacket, 1927. $6,000 to $8,000.
Swann, May 15: Lot 54: Katherine Dunham, large archive of material from her attorney, 1951-53. $20,000 to $30,000.
Swann, May 15: Lot 55: Margaret Fuller Signed Autograph Letter, New York City, 1846. $3,000 to $5,000.
Swann, May 15: Lot 92: Sonia Delaunay, illus. & Tristan Tzara, Juste Present, deluxe edition with original gouache, 1961. $20,000 to $25,000.
Swann, May 15: Lot 93: Flor Garduño, The Sonnets of Shakespeare, 2006. Limited edition. $6,000 to $8,000.
Sotheby's Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
Sotheby's Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR