Libreria de Antano Archives - Rare Book Insider

Historia geográfica civil y política de la Isla de San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico. dala á luz don Antonio Valladares de Sotomayor, Nueva ed./ anotada en la parte histórica.

vols. 4to. S.P. "A rare 19th Important Enlarged Edition of the First Modern Historical Work on Puerto Rico. Extremely Rare With no Holdings in US Libraries". 4to. Contemporary sheepskin. Second (and much enlarged) edition. This edition, according to WorldCat seems to be MUCH RARER than the first (1788).THERE ARE 22 COPIES OF THE FIRST EDITION IN LIBRARIES AROUND THE WORLD AND ONLY 1 OF THIS EDITION. Inigo Abbad y Lasierra (1745-1813) was a Spanish-born Catholic priest who became secretary to the bishop of Puerto Rico in 1773 and remained on the island for ten years. Abbad's Historia, commissioned by Count Floridablanca and originally published in Spain in 1788, is considered the first modern historical work on Puerto Rico. It begins with the Spanish discovery and conquest of the island and ends in the late eighteenth century. As part of his ecclesiastical duties, from 1772 to 1778 he visited many places on the island, observing in detail the daily life of the people. Chapters twenty through forty are devoted to the study of the island's climate, economy, population, geography and natural history. Acosta's edition is an annotated and enlarged version of Abbad's work, published eighty years after the original. Acosta updated the Historia up-to-date (1866) and incorporated much new information that had not been available to Abbad. Acosta added his corrections and additions to the end of each chapter. As Acosta approached his own time, he incorporated much new historical information. He also used his annotations as a vehicle to advocate the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico and encourage Spain to reduce Puerto Rican trade barriers. *Medina BHA 5282. Palau 515. JCB II, p. 282.