?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 5,000 - $ 7,500
(MEXICAN IMPRINT--1803.) Illustrated book on the ages of man headed "Soneto." Engraved title page and 15 engravings. 8vo, 5½ x 3¾ inches, contemporary gilt tree calf, minor wear; minor foxing, caption torn from 10th engraving ["Cincuenta años] not affecting image; 20th-century collector's bookplate and tag on front pastedown. M[exic]o, 1803
15 engravings depict the progress of life, with vignettes of the ages 1, 6, 12, 14, 16, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100--with Death finally arriving at the man's bedside with a scythe. Each has 4 lines of verso below. The engravings are credited to N. Cobo and Garrido, after art by Coronel, Altarriba, Rosi, and Bonet. The title page reads simply "Soneto," followed by an uncredited 1638 poem by Fray Miguel de Guevara which begins "Pideme de mi mismo el Tiempo Cuenta."
Not in Medina, Mexico or Palau. One other traced at auction, in a Sloan sale in 2013. OCLC has two entries: Southern Methodist University (catalogued in 2013, apparently the Sloan copy); and the engraved title page only at Biblioteca España. The Sloan copy had two fewer plates, lacking the "Catorce años" and "25 años" found here. The present example thus appears to be the most complete known.
