Prints & Drawings

Art and Evidence: Unique 18th-Century Watercolors of the Deepest Amazon by the Boundary Commissioner in charge of the Spanish Survey party: Drama and Adversity in the Luso-Hispanic Borderlands of Colonial South America

A collection of five stunning and previously unknown watercolors illustrating dramatic scenes from the joint Spanish-Portuguese boundary commission sent to demarcate the frontiers of the Amazon following the 1777 Treaty of San Ildefonso between Portugal and Spain.

Fascinating album of mid-19th century drawings of South America, the Pacific, Tahiti.

Important original drawings from a French expedition to South America and Oceania (Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Tahiti, Honolulu, Kamchatka, Mexico, etc.) by Kerret, taken whilst acting as draughtsman of the Frigate La Forte, comprised of 62 full-page drawings, a third colored or heightened in white, portraying a variety of subjects, but mostly city and village views, market scenes, streets and tradesmen, important squares, etc., overall, a rich iconographic record of an important expedition.

To the memory of a formerly enslaved woman, freed by her mistress

A tablet of marble engraved with five lines within a double-rule border, commemorating the dedication of a funerary urn to Quirina Felicula, who had been born a slave and was freed by her mistress. The plaque reads, in full: "Quiriniae [mulieris] l[ibertae] / Feliclae / ollam dat / C[aius] Valerius / Pylodamus", that is to say: "Gaius Valerius Pylodamus (= Philodamus?) dedicated this burial urn for the freedwoman Quirinia Felicla (= Felicula)".

Fine drawing of a Toucan and a Woodpecker made by the last Spanish Governor of Paraguay during his visit to Brazil in the beginning of the 19th century

Attractive drawing by Bernardo de Velasco, and who was the last governor of the province of Paraguay, made presumably during his voyage to Paraguay passing through Brazil, specifically the Island of Santa Caterina, where he portrayed a Toucan and the very local bird Picapau, or woodpecker.

Sole copy known.

Sole example known, a beautiful, if crude, woodcut portraying Saint Augustin and Saint Bridget, which leads us to believe it was created in or for a Bridgettine Monastery. The depiction is a free copy after an engraving by the so-called Master of the Berlin Passion. Schreiber assumes that it was created in a Dutch or Flemish Bridgettine monastery around 1480-1500.

Rare and dramatic image of the Holy Shroud of Turin with explanatory text.

Fine and vivid print depicting the Holy Shroud or Shroud of Turin, the image is composed of several woodcuts in black ink, with the image of the Shroud in red ink; this is apparently the only known copy, state unknown. The image conveys a sentiment of veneration towards the relic, which is accompanied by an oration, and small portraits of the Savoy family to whom it belonged.

Remarkable work by Miro in the original binding.

Remarkable illustrated work by Miro, number 105 from 220, signed Miro in pencil, with the complete suite of 33 original color etching (in and hors-text) for the ´Canticle of the Sun´ by Saint Francis of Assisi, in excellent condition. The Cantic del Sol, or song to the Sun is an admired production by Miro.

Exceptional set of 18th century woodblocks for a complete deck of Tarot cards.

A remarkable set of the four woodblocks used to print a deck of Tarot Cards, in Italian style, composed of 10 numbered cards (some with their value in Roman numerals) and 4 figures (identified at bottom). The trump cards, 0-21, also have their identification at the bottom (except the one corresponding to the 'death', as usual) and the numbering corresponding to each card at the top, also in Roman numerals (except for the madman, 'Le Fou', considered the precedent of the joker, which is unnumbered).

One of the finest color plate books ever produced, illustrating the country in the turmoil following the struggle for Independence.

One of the rarest and most beautiful views of Mexico from the 19th century, also considered one of the finest color-plate books ever produced, showing gorgeous scenes of the Valley of Mexico, without the slightest evidence of the ongoing political turmoil plaguing the country in the aftermath of the war of Independence. The plates are made after the paintings of a key early British painter of Mexico, Daniel Thomas Egerton, one of the original members of the Royal Society of British Artists. Egerton´s life contemporary to the publication of this set of views was submersed in intrigue and catastrophe, ending in his assassination. He was amongst the first foreign artists to enter Mexico, which borders were essentially closed to non-Spanish artists throughout the Viceregal period.

English large 18th century engraving showing of the "Hamburg Temple Model"

Striking example of English 18th century print making, this is John Evan's edition of Gerhard Schott's remarkable three-dimensional model of Solomon's Temple, which has come to be known as the Hamburg Temple Model.

Fine photo album of Mexico and Cuba, along with a German cigar factory

Very fine, large original photographs with views of Mexico by Abel Briquet (1833-1926), a French photographer and owner of a studio in Paris, operating from the 1850s onwards.