Sep 24, 2020 - Sale 2546

Sale 2546 - Lot 218

Price Realized: $ 1,875
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
(TEXAS.) José Joaquín de Herrera. Decree announcing the "monstruosa" American annexation of Texas. 3 printed pages, 8 1/4 x 6 1/4 inches, on one folding sheet, signed in type by Herrera as president and by minister Luis G. Cuevas with his manuscript paraph; horizontal fold, minor foxing and wear, ink burn to paraph. Mexico, 4 June 1845
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First printing of an important decree. The president of Mexico announces that the United States has decided to annex the Republic of Texas: "Que las Cámaras de los Estados Unidos del Norte, por un decreto que su Ejecutivo ha sancionado, han resuelto incorporar el territorio de Tejas á la Union Americana: Que este modo de apropiarse territorios extraños, sobre que tienen derecho otras naciones, introduce una novedad monstruosa, de grave peligro para la paz del mundo, y atentatoria á la soberanía de las naciones." In reaction to this "monstrous novelty," Herrera declares all treaties with the United States null and void, mobilizes the army, and calls upon citizens to defend their republic.
The present copy is printed on the day of issue by the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, with the uncorrected "8 de Diciembre" date at the bottom of page 2. A second printing corrected to "9 de Diciembre" followed soon after. The first lines read "El Exmo. Sr. Presidente interino de la República, se ha servido dirigirme el decreto que sigue." Streeter sale, I:388; Streeter, Texas 1021 (traces 2 copies of this first printing including his own).