Jun 12 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2708 -

Sale 2708 - Lot 257

Estimate: $ 700 - $ 1,000
(MEXICO.) José de Gálvez, Marqués de Sonora. A later letter by the famous colonizer of the Californias. Letter Signed "Maq's de Sonora" to the widowed Marquessa de Villafranca, 3 pages (8 x 5¾ inches) on one folding sheet; vertical fold, minimal wear, a few pencil notes. Tipped by one corner into a copy of a related later book, Galvez's "Informe General . . . de 31 de Diciembre de 1771." 24 folding plates. 411 pages. 4to, contemporary full morocco by Juan V. Machica, boards worn and retouched; minimal wear; all edges gilt. Mexico, 1867. Santo Ildefonso, 11 September 1786

Additional Details

José de Gálvez (1720-1787) had served as inspector General of New Spain from 1764-1772, and had dispatched early expeditions to Baja and Alta California. At this point he was president of the Council of the Indies. In this letter, he informs a Spanish noblewoman that the Royal Audiencia will deliver 6,000 pesos to her nephew, the Duke of Abrantes, by the naval vessel San Felipe, relating to his holdings in New Spain.

The attached book is a later printing of Galvez's 1771 report on New Spain, including his expeditions to the Californias and Sonora, and illustrated with reproductions of his original manuscript tables.