Alexander von Humboldt, I
Humboldt, Alexander, von,
1769-1859.
Vue des Cordelleres et Monumens des Peuples Indigene
de l’Amerique.
Paris: F. Schoell, 1810. Original full red
morocco.
Alexander von
Humboldt, the leading German scientist and explorer of his age, was
already well-known as a geologist before he sailed for Spanish America
in 1799 with his French collaborator Aime Bonpland. On his return to
Paris in 1804, he and Bonpland published a 23-volume series covering
physical geography, natural history, and ethnography, usually titled
after its first volume Voyage aux régions equinoxiales du nouveax
continent (Paris: Schoell, 1805-34). In part because each
sub-series was differently titled, most library sets are incomplete,
and this first "Atlas" volume of illustrative plates, though badly in
need of professional conservation, is especially rare. [This volume is
currently being covered and no image is yet available.]
Alexander
von Humboldt, II
Humboldt, Alexander von, 1769-1859; Williams, Helen Maria,
1762-1827, transl. Researches concerning the institutions &
monuments of the ancient inhabitants of America, with descriptions &
views of some of the most striking scenes in the Cordilleras!
2 vols.
London: Longman, 1814.
This English translation of the
text from Humboldt's opening volume attests to the widespread
influence of his work in his own time. The poet, novelist, and
enthusiast for the French revolution Helen Maria Williams had
published a poem titled
Peru
in 1784, though she is
now best known for her volumes of Letters about French politics
(1790 etc.).
 Alexander
von Humboldt, III
Humboldt, Alexander von, 1769-1859; Black, John, 1783-1855, transl.
Political essay on the kingdom of New Spain. 2 vols.
New York: Riley, 1811. Contemporary calf.
The third volume in Humboldt's series was his Essai politique
(Paris, 1810), an argument based on demographic and statistical data
for the overhaul of Mexican political structures. The prefatory letter
to the King of Spain is dated March 1808, before Miguel Hidalgo's
"Grito de Dolores" initiated the first Mexican
revolution in September 1810.
Aztec
Costume
from the Time of Montezuma: Humboldt, IV
"Costumes dessines des Peintres Mexicains du Temps de Montezuma,"
from Humboldt, Vue des Cordelleres.
Paris: Schoell,
1810.
Though less
extensive and well-known than those in Kingsborough's Antiquities,
the illustrations in Humboldt's atlas volume also included
drawings made from the pre-Columbian codices. This detached page from
the South Carolina College copy of the Humboldt atlas indicates why
the volume will shortly be sent for professional restoration. [This
volume is currently being covered and no image is yet available.]
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This page updated
June 1, 2008