Habana: Impr. de P. Massana / Impr. del Tiempo, 1859-61. 225, 2 pp.; 220, 4 pp.; 247, 1 pp. 8vo. Modern quarter speckled calf over green marbled boards, four raised bands, red morocco spine label titled in gilt, marbled endpapers. First edition. "The most important work published by Bachiller y Morales and containing valuable information on the literary history of Cuba," Trelles ("es la obra mas importante publicada por Bachiller y contiene preciosos datos sobre la historia literaria de esta Isla"). These articles -on schools, higher education, the press, literature, historiography, theater, music, biographies; and also containing a complete list of books printed in Cuba from 1724 to 1840- were previously published in various Spanish and Cuban periodicals. Antonio Bachiller y Morales (1812-1889) is considered the father of Cuban literature and Cuban bibliography (Cuba's Librarian Day is celebrated on his birthday). Jose Marti wrote that talking to Bachiller y Morales was like having access to the library in Alexandria. Provenance: Mario Guiral Moreno (1882-1964), essayist and founding member and chairman of the Cuban National Academy of Arts and Letters (his library stamp). A very good copy, title page foxed, owner's stamp on margin, a few small holes to top edge, notations on a few pages, leaves browned and edges foxed, more heavily to the first volume, binding quite fine. A handsome copy of a rare and important work with a distinguished provenance. Palau 21634. Sabin 2608. Trelles IV, p.90. Jones / Medina 667. Parreño sale 1036. Griffin 905.

Rio Piedras, P.R. University of Puerto Rico, 1936. 57 pp. Illus. with 1 b/w photo. Sm. 4to. Paper wrappers. First edition. Richard Pattee, foreword. The University of Puerto Rico Bulletin. Series VII.- No. 1 September 1936. A series of four lectures delivered in the University of Puerto Rico under the auspices of Ibero American Institute of the University, April, 1936, concerning economic conditions and foreign relations. A very good copy, small tears at spine ends, corner chip to the lower front and upper rear wrappers, contents crisp.

Paris: E. Dentu, 1861. 31 pp. Advertisements on rear wrapper. Sm. 4to. Yellow / orange paper wrappers, tissue guards. First edition. After decades of battles between Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Spain, and France, the then free nation of the Dominican Republic was handed over to Spain in 1861 by Dominican dictator Pedro Santana, who for a few titles and privileges, annexed the country back to Spanish rule. Bonneau, in this scarce work, argues that the annexation of Dominicanie to Spain is detrimental to other nations, because it makes Spain mistress of navigation in the antilles in La République d'Haïti: "The former island of Santo Domingo, Haiti, the most beautiful in the Caribbean, is currently the scene of a sudden revolution, which would be fatal to the political balance, trade and freedom, if the governments of Europe and America do not hasten to safeguard their interests and the cause of justice. We refer to the annexation or rather the occupation of the Dominican Republic by Spain." He notes that Dominican leaders tried to shop their newly formed nation to various larger countries, with Spain being the one to accept because, "since its adventurous campaign against Moroccans, Spain thinks it will again play an important role in the world... and... She has designed a comprehensive plan of conquest and annexation [because] she wants to recover all loses of her former American colonies one by one." He ends with a dire warning: "[Spain] aspires to burn all that we love... "Soyons donc sages, soyons prudents, et conservons dans les Antilles tous nos moyens d'action, si nous ne voulons pas voir un jour l'Espagne, s'unissant contre nous avec une autre puissance maritime, nous interdire l'accès du golfe du Mexique et nous enlever tout ce que nous possédons encore dans l'archipel des Antilles." Most modern authors attribute the work to Alexandre Bonneau (1820-1890) who wrote numerous books on Hispaniola (including "Haïti ses progrès, son avenir: avec un précis historique sur ses constitutions, le texte de la constitution actuellement en vigueur, et une bibliographie d'Haïti" Paris: E. Dentu, 1862). Sabin has this work under two numbers, one with Bonneau listed as author and one with no author. And Samuel Hazard attributes it to Charolais ("Santo Domingo" New York: Harpers, 1872, p. xxiii). Rare. We could locate none at auction in at least the last fifty years. OCLC and European catalogues locate only three copies, two at the British Library and one at the BN France. A very good or better copy, faint mail fold, rubbing at top edge, stamped paper with French revenue stamp in black ink on verso of half-title and p. 18. Sabin 6310 & 75136. H. Ling Roth: Bibliography and Cartography Hispaniola: p. 48. Not in Cundall.

New York: Burt Franklin, (1971). vi, 83 pp. 8vo. Cloth with gilt titles. Reprint. A near fine copy. No dust jacket as issued.

La Habana: Ediciones Nosotros, 1952. 25, [1] pp. Sm. 8vo. Illustrated stapled paper wrappers. First edition. Warmly inscribed in English by the author in the year of publication to "Nita," a close woman friend living in the United States, and whom he asks to write back to him. Number 193 of 200 copies. Cover art by Wifredo Lam, who was a close friend, and a further drawing at the end by Silvianna Goldsmith, an early disciple of Wifredo Lam. Though known as a novelist, especially for his "Memorias del subdesarrollo" (Memories of Underdevelopment), made into an award winning film by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Edmundo Perez Desnoes (b. 1930, Cuba) was initially a poet; "Todo esta en el fuego" (Everything is on Fire) was his first published book. Very scarce, and even more so with such a personal inscription. We could not locate any for sale nor at auction in the last quarter century. OCLC locates only five copies, none signed: Mus. Modern Art, NYPL, Notre Dame, Univ. S. Carolina, and BN Spain. A very good copy, wrappers soiled, spine rubbed with small tear at staple, endpapers mildly foxed, tiny indentation to upper margin of a few leaves.

Habana: Sociedad Columbista Panamericana, 1956. 76 pp. Illus. with 3 color plates, b/w plates and numerous in-text drawings. Sm. 4to. Paper wrappers. First edition. Illus. by Hurtado Mendoza. Enrique Calbó Gay (1889-1977) was a writer, lawyer and Cuban historian. The work illustrates the legal uses of the Cuban national symbols. A very good copy, light soiling on wrappers, wear to spine.

Paris: De L'Imprimerie du Patriote François, 1792. 15 pp. Sm. 8vo. Cloth with gilt titles. First edition. Caption title: Faits Relatifs aux Troubles de Saint-Domingue presentes au Comite Colonial, en Vertu d'un Decret de I'Assemblee nationale, par M. Bore, citoyen et planteur de Saint-Domingue. Date supplied in manuscript. Memoirs of a planter from 1789 to 1791. OCLC shows only seven copies. Amateur repair of quarter-size hole on title page darkening several words, faint foxing, pencil annotations, else a very good copy. Sabin 6423. Garrett, French Colonial Question 153. Bissainthe, M. Dict. de bib. haïtienne, 4837. Catalogue de l'histoire de France, VIII, p. 733: 400.

Nancy [France]: Chez Haener, Imprimeur du Départment de la Meurthe, 1792. 4 pp. Illus. with a woodcut headpiece. Sm. 4to. Self wrappers. First edition. Signed (illegible). Law authorizing negotiation with the United States minister to obtain food and construction materials in the amount of 4,000,000 livres, to be paid by the French Treasury but to be reimbursed by taxes on the colony. The money was much needed as the loan decree, dated 26 Juin 1792, came in the midst of unparalleled upheaval in Haiti. The revolution of the year before, with its "horrible carnage" had now given way "to strategic military operations, tactical maneuvers and new political alliances as the slaves gain territory and stabilize their positions. They raid plantations for military equipment, loot the whites' forces after they are repelled, and trade with the Spanish for weaponry" (Kona Shen, History of Haiti, The Revolution Builds, Brown University. library.brown.edu/haitihistory/6.html). Toussaint Louverture is a rising star, Civil Commissions arrive from France, free blacks and mulattos in Saint-Domingue are granted equal political rights, Spain declares war on England and France, and battle ensues for control of Haiti. The U.S. is concerned with conditions on the island and in fact Jefferson writes of his concern to the Marquis de Lafayette (16 June 1792). Rare. OCLC, BN France, and other European Libraries locate no copies of this issue (No. 1412, with additional text concerning the Departement de la Meurthe). A Paris printing (No. 1813) can be found at Cornell, Univ. Minn., and JCB which also has a Toulouse printing. Manioc (Bibliotheque) shows a digitized version of the Paris imprint. A very good copy with pin holes along inner margin, two soiled spots, signed in ink on last page.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1931. 54 pp. Illus. with 1 plate and 1 folding map. Sm. 4to. Cloth. First edition. One of 675 copies, printed at the Riverside Press in Cambridge (Mass.). A fine unopened (uncut) copy in very good chipped original glassine dust jacket but for a few chips, in a worn slip case lacking the rear strip.

New York: Harper & Brothers, (1890). 431 pp. + [adv.] 6 pp. Illus. with 44 b/w engravings. 12mo. Cloth. First edition. "A series of light, amusing, and evocative sketches of Martinique at the end of the nineteenth century," Griffin, p. 450. A very good or better copy, spine sunned with minor wear at ends BAL 7920; Cundall, Bibliography of the West Indies, 2427; Griffin 4923. Perkins p. 18.