Molina, Felipe:

$500 · Offered by William Reese Company

BOSQUEJO DE LA REPUBLICA DE COSTA RICA, SUEGUIDO DE APUNTAMIENTOS PARA SU HISTORIA. CON VARIOS MAPAS, VISTA Y RETRATOS. First American edition, after the first Spanish edition of 1850. An essential work on the geography and history of Costa Rica, with rich descriptions of its economy, politics, and social institutions, and a detailed chronology of its history from discovery to independence, all published to advance ideas of a canal through the country and the potential for European colonization. The volume holds particular interest as an American publication that may have served as a resource to William Walker during his invasion of Costa Rica in 1855. The series of maps and plates in the volume are some of the best of the area to that date, and reflect heightened U.S. interest from the Gold Rush travellers who had crossed Central America. Notable are a map of Costa Rica, a folding plan of the port of Greytown, with an accompanying panorama of the waterfront, five highly detailed coastal maps, and a large map of the proposed colony of Miravalles, aimed at encouraging German emigration to the country.

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