Humboldt, Alexander von:

$4,500 · Offered by William Reese Company

ESSAI POLITIQUE SUR LE ROYAUME DE LA NOUVELLE-ESPAGNE.... A founding work in the fields of political economy and economic geography. Humboldt spent five years in the Spanish dominions of the New World, from 1799 to 1804, and recorded his experiences in a series of works stretching over decades after his return to Europe. One of the first of these was the ESSAI POLITIQUE..., describing northern New Spain, particularly Mexico and the northern provinces, including California and the American Southwest. Howes writes that the work is "of superlative California importance," and Becker calls the volumes "detailed and thorough, containing much data that had never before appeared in print." "This important work...contains the most complete and accurate picture of the natural resources of Mexico then available, and in 1824 was declared by a representative of the Mexican government to have contributed to the reanimation of the active industry of the nation" - Hill.This copy is notable in having an early Mexican provenance, signed "W. Stein, Zacatecas, 1842," and in having the "Carte du Mexique," not called for in the text and usually found only in the separate atlas, bound into the first volume. The large folding map shows all of Mexico and the Southwest, and California.

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.