Autobiografia del General Jose Antonio Paez
Nueva York: Imprenta de Hallet y Breen, 1870. Two volumes: xvi,576; [2],488,vii pp., plus engraved portrait frontispiece and one additional plate in volume one. Original green pebbled cloth, blindstamped boards, spines stamped in gilt. Small shelf label on each spine. Minor edge wear, spine ends a bit frayed, corners worn, small paper remnant on front cover of first volume. Same ink ownership signature to a few leaves in each volume, light foxing to endleaves. Very good plus. Item #4265
A handsome copy of the third edition of Jose Antonio Paez's autobiography, printed in Spanish in New York, and following editions in 1867 and 1869. Jose Antonio Paez (1790-1873) is a massive figure in 19th-century Venezuelan history. He first came to prominence while fighting Spain alongside Simon Bolivar during the Venezuelan War of Independence. He also assisted his country in achieving independence from Gran Colombia, and thereafter practically ruled Venezuela for the next twenty years. His record of authoritarianism was greatly influential in the governments of Latin American over more than the next century. The present work is an in-depth autobiographical account of Paez's life, published just three years before his death. The frontispiece plate in the first volume pictures Paez decked out in formal military uniform, complete with presentation sword; the second plate also features Paez, this time "en su traje de llanero" ("in his plainsman suit"). This third edition is institutionally scarce; OCLC records just seven copies worldwide - two in Germany, two in Australia, one each in Chile and Argentina, and a single copy in the United States, at the University of Texas at Austin.
Price: $850.00