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SAGRA, Ramón de la (1798-1871, editor). Historia física, política y natural de la Isla de Cuba. Paris: Arthus Bertrand, 1839-1861. 13 volumes including supplement, 2° (391 x 257mm). Half-titles, 20 lithographic diagrams, 13 lithographic maps, 2 folding, 267 engraved plates only (of 269), 159 hand-coloured. (One plate torn with loss, some variable browning and spotting, and more occasional waterstaining, a few marginal tears. Vol. IX lacks quire 80. For further information on condition see below.) Original cloth-backed printed boards (worn). Provenance: Carlos Ripoll (bookplate; his collations in pencil).
The work comprises:
Volumes I-II: Primera parte. Historia física y política. [Atlas Geográfico]. Paris: 1842. 20 lithographic diagrams, atlas at end of vol. II with 11 single-page and 2 large folding lithographic maps (clean tear into one folding map, some spotting to others, index leaf to atlas repaired on verso.)
Volumes III-VIII: Segunda parte. Historia natural [Zoologica]. Vol. III: Mamíferos y aves. Aves by Alcides d'Orbigny; IV: Reptiles y peces. Reptiles by Jean-Théodore Cocteau and Gabriel Bibron, Peces by Alphonse Guichenot; V: Moluscos and VI: Formaníferas, both by d'Orbigny; VII: Crustáceos, aragnides e insectos by Felix-Edouard Guérin-Méneville and others; VIII: Atlas de Zoología. Paris: 1845 [but sectional title to Aves dated 1839]-43-45-40-56-55. Atlas with 147 engraved plates, most hand-coloured. (Vol. III with pp. 167-68 torn through and repaired, plate 23 bis of Moluscos torn with loss to lower half, plate 10 and 23 of the same vol. restored, a few plates with all-over spotting, occasional waterstains or finger soiling to others.)
Volumes IX-XII: Segunda parte. Historia natural. Botánica. Vol. IX: [Cryptogamia by Jean-François-Camille Montagne]; X-XI: [Fanerogamia by Achille Richard]; XII: Atlas de Botánica. Paris and Madrid: 1845-55. 120 (of 122) engraved plates only, the first series of 20 hand-coloured. (Plates 60 and 65 lacking but supplied in photocopy, the first plate slightly soiled and stained, a minority spotted, text of vol. X waterstained and browned.)
Volume XIII: Suplemento a la sección económico-política. Paris: Hachette, 1861.
FIRST EDITION, IN SPANISH, OF ONE OF THE RAREST AND MOST DESIRABLE WORKS ON CUBA, the second and larger part dealing with the natural history of the island. Few bibliographers apart from Palau show a thorough knowledge of the Spanish edition, and the most reliable collation has been provided by Carlos Ripoll, the owner of this copy (see C. Ripoll, 'La Sagra's Historia', in Revista Interamericana de Bibliografia, XL;3, 1990, pp. 421-424). Though a copy with all the engraved plates, bound for Leopold I of Belgium, was sold by Christie's as lot 164, 17 March 1999, this lacked the supplement present here. For a copy to even have the 12 volumes is unusual. Max Henríquez Ureña, the historian of Cuban letters, wrote in 1963 that: 'Since it was edited in such unusual circumstances, it is extremely difficult today to find a collection of the twelve volumes' (Ripoll p. 421). Although La Sagra had been commissioned by the Spanish government to provide 300 copies, he encountered huge difficulties in making them up from the 190 parts issued over a period of twenty years. As he said in 1861: 'Those who had taken subscriptions in the Island grew weary of waiting for the end of such a protracted, slow, and irregular process of publication. And of the copies I had reserved for myself, only very few could be completed ... a lot were lost in warehouses ... during the long years required to finish the publication' (Ripoll, p. 422). Palau 284796; Sabin 74921; Anker 383 (French edition); Nissen ZBI 3547 (French edition); IVB 697; BBI 1713; Ronsil 2671 (French edition); BM(NH) IV, p.1781; Stafleu & Cowan 10000; Wood p. 547 (11). (13)
The work comprises:
Volumes I-II: Primera parte. Historia física y política. [Atlas Geográfico]. Paris: 1842. 20 lithographic diagrams, atlas at end of vol. II with 11 single-page and 2 large folding lithographic maps (clean tear into one folding map, some spotting to others, index leaf to atlas repaired on verso.)
Volumes III-VIII: Segunda parte. Historia natural [Zoologica]. Vol. III: Mamíferos y aves. Aves by Alcides d'Orbigny; IV: Reptiles y peces. Reptiles by Jean-Théodore Cocteau and Gabriel Bibron, Peces by Alphonse Guichenot; V: Moluscos and VI: Formaníferas, both by d'Orbigny; VII: Crustáceos, aragnides e insectos by Felix-Edouard Guérin-Méneville and others; VIII: Atlas de Zoología. Paris: 1845 [but sectional title to Aves dated 1839]-43-45-40-56-55. Atlas with 147 engraved plates, most hand-coloured. (Vol. III with pp. 167-68 torn through and repaired, plate 23 bis of Moluscos torn with loss to lower half, plate 10 and 23 of the same vol. restored, a few plates with all-over spotting, occasional waterstains or finger soiling to others.)
Volumes IX-XII: Segunda parte. Historia natural. Botánica. Vol. IX: [Cryptogamia by Jean-François-Camille Montagne]; X-XI: [Fanerogamia by Achille Richard]; XII: Atlas de Botánica. Paris and Madrid: 1845-55. 120 (of 122) engraved plates only, the first series of 20 hand-coloured. (Plates 60 and 65 lacking but supplied in photocopy, the first plate slightly soiled and stained, a minority spotted, text of vol. X waterstained and browned.)
Volume XIII: Suplemento a la sección económico-política. Paris: Hachette, 1861.
FIRST EDITION, IN SPANISH, OF ONE OF THE RAREST AND MOST DESIRABLE WORKS ON CUBA, the second and larger part dealing with the natural history of the island. Few bibliographers apart from Palau show a thorough knowledge of the Spanish edition, and the most reliable collation has been provided by Carlos Ripoll, the owner of this copy (see C. Ripoll, 'La Sagra's Historia', in Revista Interamericana de Bibliografia, XL;3, 1990, pp. 421-424). Though a copy with all the engraved plates, bound for Leopold I of Belgium, was sold by Christie's as lot 164, 17 March 1999, this lacked the supplement present here. For a copy to even have the 12 volumes is unusual. Max Henríquez Ureña, the historian of Cuban letters, wrote in 1963 that: 'Since it was edited in such unusual circumstances, it is extremely difficult today to find a collection of the twelve volumes' (Ripoll p. 421). Although La Sagra had been commissioned by the Spanish government to provide 300 copies, he encountered huge difficulties in making them up from the 190 parts issued over a period of twenty years. As he said in 1861: 'Those who had taken subscriptions in the Island grew weary of waiting for the end of such a protracted, slow, and irregular process of publication. And of the copies I had reserved for myself, only very few could be completed ... a lot were lost in warehouses ... during the long years required to finish the publication' (Ripoll, p. 422). Palau 284796; Sabin 74921; Anker 383 (French edition); Nissen ZBI 3547 (French edition); IVB 697; BBI 1713; Ronsil 2671 (French edition); BM(NH) IV, p.1781; Stafleu & Cowan 10000; Wood p. 547 (11). (13)