Cartas de don Juan Egaña a su hijo Mariano 1824-1828.
Santiago de Chile: Sociedad de Bibliófilos Chilenos, 1946. 263 pp. Illus. with 6 b/w plates. Sm. 4to. Not bound. Loose in quires. First edition. Alfronso Bulnes, intro. Faint soiling on edges else a near fine copy, in 17 loose signatures unbound, with publisher's blind stamp on title. Item #41831
No 43 of 100 copies. The first work issued by the Sociedad de Bibliófilos Chilenos, founded in 1945 with the purpose of “editing and publishing works of general interest, related to Chilean history, science, literature, arts and sociability; encourage the progress of typographic art ; organize meetings, conferences and exhibitions related to bibliophile, and facilitate relations with similar institutions.” The first President was Ricardo Donoso. Of the 100 copies, foreign subscribers were restructed to ten, including only two North American institutions: the Library of Congress and the Univ. of Michigan.
Donoso wrote of this work: "The personality of Mr. Egaña offers the greatest interest to Chilean historians, since he was the editor of the first draft of the country's Political Constitution. A jurist trained in colonial culture, he was born in Lima and his father held a chair at the colonial university of Chile. He ardently embraced the cause of independence and dreamed of going down in history as a political organizer of his country. When Don Bernardo O'Higgins fell, he drafted a new constitution that was inapplicable. ...His letters evoke, in a very moving picture, the social and political environment of the time, in which the picturesque notes are not lacking." (Hispanic American Historical Review: V.36, No. 3, Aug. 1956 pp 333-4)
Very uncommon. OCLC and other databases locate just seven copies: LOC, Univ. Conn, Univ. Michigan, UCLA, UCLAC, Vanderbilt, BN Chile.
Price: $500.00