[Iturbide, Agustin de]

El Supremo Poder Ejectutivo Me Ha Dirigido El Decreto Que Sigue.... 1o Se Declara Traidor y Fuera de la Ley á D. Agustin de Iturbide... [caption title]

Mexico City: April 28, 1824. Broadsheet. Small folio. Right edge reinforced. Small portion of lower left corner town away. Scattered worming, occasionally repaired with small paper discs on verso, slightly affecting text. Good plus. Item #3826

The rare first printing of this dramatic and consequential decree, which designated Agustin de Iturbide, the first President and former Emperor of Mexico, as an enemy of the state. Iturbide's military and political coalition brought the Mexican War of Independence to a close with a dramatic march into the capital on September 27, 1821. Following his arrival he was named President of the Regency and Constitutional Emperor of the nascent country, but he soon proved so unpopular that he was removed from power after less than a year, with his economic policies in particular having left Mexico on the brink of immediate ruin. After being overthrown, Iturbide was sent into exile in 1823, which he spent in Italy and England. With Iturbide banished from the country, the situation in Mexico nevertheless continued to deteriorate and rumors reached his supporters that Spain might reinvigorate its attempts to retake its former colony. Iturbide was led to believe that he would be hailed as a national savior if he came back to Mexico, just as Napoleon was in France after his dramatic return from Elba. The reality was somewhat different; the present document, printed on April 28, 1824, declares Iturbide to be a traitor and a public enemy, and orders a similar designation for anyone assisting his return:

"El Soberano Congreso General Constituyente se ha servido decretar. 1o. Se declara traidor y fuera de la ley à D. Agustin de Iturbide siempre que bajo cualquiera título se presente en algun punto el mismo hecho declarado enemigo público del Estado. 2o. Se declaran traidores á la Federacion, y séran juzgados conforme á la ley de 27 de Septiembre 1823, cuantos cooperen por escritos encomiasticos, ó de cualquiera otro modo á favorecer su regreso á la República Mexicana...."

Iturbide indeed returned to Mexico on July 14, 1824, less than three months after the issuance of this decree. He was arrested and executed by firing squad five days later. In the years following his inglorious demise, his reputation as the leader of the Mexican independence movement was rehabilitated, and in 1839 his ashes were interred in the Mexico City Cathedral. The present printing is the official promulgation of the decree, signed in print by the leaders of the Constitutional Congress and the Supreme Executive. OCLC locates copies of several bando editions of the decree, but not this original Mexico City printing of the order; we note one copy of this significant decree in available auction records, in a 2010 Swann sale.

Price: $3,750.00