Memorias Sobre la Vida del Libertador Simon Bolivar
Nueva York: Imprenta de S.W. Benedict, 1853. 105,56pp. Small quarto. Contemporary red calf and cloth boards, spine gilt. Extremities rubbed, spine ends chipped, corners bumped. Light soiling and fraying to cloth. Later ink ownership inscription at head of title page. Text modestly foxed. Good. Item #4080
A biography of Bolivar, the leader of South American independence movements in the early 19th century. The author's brother succeeded Bolivar as president of Gran Colombia; the author wrote this book in New York following his own first term as president of Nueva Granada. He was subsequently also elected president of Colombia and briefly served as dictator. This popular work was published at least a half dozen times in the 20th century. Records in OCLC seem to identify two different states of the text, both published by Benedict in 1853. This is the shorter -- and presumably first -- of the two, which is far less common. Copies of the present issue are noted at the British Library and the Biblioteca Nacional de Chile; copies of the longer work identified at a handful of institutions.
Price: $1,750.00