Durán, Gabriel. [Zavala, Lorenzo de]

Carta y Plan del Señor General Don Gabriel Duran... [caption title]

Mexico City: 1833. Broadsheet, approximately 12 x 8.5 inches. Previously folded. Light wear at edges and along old fold. Moderate dust soiling. About very good. Item #3694

An animated and rare 1833 broadsheet attack on the political beliefs and actions of Lorenzo de Zavala, one of the foundational figures of the Texas Republic. Zavala was a prominent liberal Mexican politician, who helped to draft the Constitution of 1824, and served as president of Congress and Secretary of Finance. In 1829, he began investing in Texan lands, thus beginning his close involvement in Texas. When this document was issued, Zavala was serving as Governor of the State of Mexico.

The present address, styled as an open letter to Mexican president Santa Anna, and dated June 1, 1833, from Tlalpan, was authored by conservative General Gabriel Durán, who makes a vehement attack on Zavala's patriotism and character, urging Santa Anna to cut ties with Zavala completely. In translation, Duran urges the Mexican president to defend, "The State of Mexico, oppressed and degraded by an impious, audacious, and insolent faction...that took by assault the sovereign executive powers enabling Lorenzo Zavala, a famous criminal, despised in general by the nation." In order to, "Sustain the sovereignty of the nation in spite of the violent jolt and ill-fated attacks of the anarchy," Duran offers Santa Anna the military support needed to halt, "A schism and the violation of our sacred religion, and the restlessness of proprietors of being despoiled of their properties will be forever dissipated." He completes his address by offering an eight-point plan to "annul the elections where de Zavala was triumphant," and to regain power in the region surrounding Mexico City.

Durán's message was not at first heeded by Santa Anna, who appointed Zavala as Minister to France in October 1833. However, in reaction to Santa Anna's dictatorial proclivities, Zavala resigned his position in 1834, and never returned to Mexico. He settled in Texas in 1835 when it was on the cusp of revolution, and helped to draft the Texas Constitution, before serving as the Republic's first Vice President. We locate only two copies, at the Sutro and British Libraries.
Sutro Collection Pamphlets, p.690.

Price: $3,250.00