| Vicente TOFIÑO DE SAN MIGUEL — Coleccion de cartas de America publicadas por la direction de trabajos hidrograficos |
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Coleccion de cartas de America publicadas por la direction de trabajos hidrograficos |
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Broadsheets (24 4/8 x20 inches). Manuscript title-page. 16 engraved maps (10 double-page). Contemporary Spanish mottled calf, covers decorated with a border of triple gilt fillets, smooth spine gilt-ruled in seven compartments, red morocco lettering-piece in one (extremities scuffed, lower cover with some surface wear). Provenance: S. Alfonso Aguirre y Gadea, Conde de Yoldi (1764-1852), Spanish count, chamberlain at the court of King Kristian VIII of Denmark (signature on front free endpaper); Frank Sherwin Streeter (1918-2006) (Collection of Important Navigation, Pacific Voyages, Cartography and Science). A very fine collection of Atlantic and American maps from the extremely rare Spanish "Atlas Maritimo Español" (Madrid, 1789-1814), which includes maps of the Western Hemisphere, knowledge of which area the Spanish had previously kept strictly secret: Tofino' previous work had included the first atlas of the Spanish coastline "Atlas Maritimo de Espana" between 1783 and 1788. Of particular note is the "Carte esferica que comprehende las costas del Seno Mexicano", the first printed map to name the bays of Galveston and Bernardo, and considered by Streeter to be one of the six most important maps in any collection of Texas: "It is the first of two or three early maps showing the Texas coast line and the lower courses of its rivers. This "Carta Esferica" was one of the authorities used by Humboldt in constructing his highly acclaimed "Carte Générale du royaume de la Nouvelle Espagne", Paris, [1809]" (Streeter "Texas"). The other fifteen maps are: "Carta general del Oceano Atlantico," "Carta esferica que comprehende una parte de las Islas Antillas," "Carta esferica de una parte del Canal Viejo de Bahama," "Plano geometrico del Puerto, capital de la isla de Puerto Rico," "Plano del Puerto y ciudad della Havana," "Carta esferica del Rio de la Plata," "Carta esferica de las coastas de la America meridional," "Carta esferica de las costas del Reyno de Chile," "Carta esferica de una parte de la costa del Peru," "Plano del Puerto del Sta. Elena en la cost Patagonica," "Plano del Puerto del Sn. Carlos," "Plano del Puerto del Valdivia," and "Carta esferica de los reconocimientos hechos en 1782 en la costa N.O. de America". No copy of the "Atlas Maritimo Espanol" has been offered publically in the last thirty years. See Phillips Atlases 4155. Purchased at Christie's 17th April 2007, lot 501. Purchased at Christie's 16th April 2007, lot 310. |
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