Nicaragua First Edition - Epraim George Squier - Bauman Rare Books

Nicaragua

Epraim George SQUIER

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Nicaragua

FIRST ENGLISH EDITION OF SQUIER’S NICARAGUA WITH MAPS AND LITHOGRAPHIC PLATES

SQUIER, Epraim George. Nicaragua: Its People, Scenery, Monuments, and the Proposed Interoceanic Canal. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1852. Two volumes. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter brown morocco gilt, raised bands, marbled boards, and endpapers, top edges gilt.

First English edition by “perhaps the best single authority on the Central America of the period,” with nine maps (one folding), 25 tinted lithographic plates, and 60 woodcuts.

The American journalist, archaeologist, and diplomat Ephraim G. Squier was assigned to Central America in 1849 as chargé d’affaires for the region. “During his tenure, he negotiated commercial treaties with San Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, and he was authorized to sign an agreement with Nicaragua for the construction of an interoceanic canal… he did conduct two archaeological expeditions and made numerous ethnological observations of the region’s peoples. Squier unearthed several stone idols that he deposited in the Smithsonian. After returning to the United States in 1851, Squier completed work on the The Serpent Symbol and the Reciprocal Principles of Nature (1851) and published his two-volume Nicaragua: Its People, Scenery, Monuments, and Proposed Interoceanic Canal (1852). The publication of those works and Squier’s earlier Smithsonian monographs established him as the leading authority on American antiquities and matters relating to Central America” (ANB). This volume includes extensive descriptions of the geography, topography, and scenery of Nicaragua; explorations of aboriginal monuments, observations of the natives’ habits, customs, languages, and religions; the political history of Central America; and the geography of Nicaragua. Plates depict aboriginal idols, painted and sculptured rocks, artifacts and ruins, and scenery and village life; maps include a folding plate of six sectional maps charting the San Juan River in Nicaragua, and a folding map of Nicaragua, part of Honduras, and the Mosquito Coast. Published the same year as the first American edition. Owner inscription. Occasional contemporary marginalia.

Only lightest scattered foxing to preliminary and final plates. Contemporary morocco lightly rubbed. Near-fine condition.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.
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Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book.
Book-Plate Label, generally affixed to the front pastedown, identifying a book’s owner.
Broadside Sheet printed on one side, typically for public display, usually larger than folio size (a folio being a broadside-size sheet printed on both sides and folded once, to make four pages).
Calf Binding material made from cowhide—versatile, durable, usually tan or brown in color, of smooth texture with no or little apparent grain. Readily marbled (“tree calf”), mottled, diced, colored, polished, tooled in gilt or blind, even scented (known as “russia”). Reverse calf, with a distinctive suede-like texture, is occasionally used.
Chromolithograph Lithograph printed in colors, typically three or more.
Collation Process by which the contents of a book are inspected for completeness, checking against internal evidence, the table of contents and/or plate list, and reference works. Also a shorthand bibliographical description of a book’s composition by its leaves and signatures, rather than its pages. A-C, for example, would indicate a quarto volume composed of three signatures or gatherings of eight pages each for a total of 24 pages.
Colophon Printed note at the end of a text containing information about the printing of the book.
Doublure Pastedowns made not of paper but of leather, for decorative purposes.
Duodecimo (12MO) Smaller than an octavo, typically less than six inches tall; smaller formats, such as 24mo and 32mo, are uncommon.
Edition Print-run from a single setting of type without substantial change. Depending on demand, any number of printings can be made from a setting of type For example, a first printing might consist of 1000 copies, followed by a second printing of 2500 copies; in which case the book would have a first edition, first printing of 1000 copies, and a first edition, second printing of 2500 copies.
Endpapers Extra leaves—plain, colored or decorated—with which a bookbinder covers the insides of the book’s boards, therefore not part of the actual text block. The part of the leaf pasted to the inside of the front board is the front “pastedown,” while the other part of the leaf that forms the first page of the book is the “front free endpaper”; the same applies to the rear pastedown and rear free endpaper.
Engraving Illustration produced by carving lines into a metal plate. This is an intaglio process, in which ink is poured over the plate, then wiped from the surface, leaving ink only in the recesses made by the engraver’s tools. The image is then transferred by pressing thick dampened paper against the metal plate with great force—requiring engravings to be printed on a separate stock and separate press from any text.
Errata List of mistakes and corrections noted after printing, often compiled on a separate sheet or slip and inserted into the text block.
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Foxing Light brown spots that naturally appear on some papers due to oxidation as they age.
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Japanese Vellum Expensive handmade paper often used in deluxe editions.
Lithograph Illustration produced by transferring an image drawn on a carefully prepared stone to paper. The process allowed illustrations to more closely resemble the original drawings, paintings or sketches, as it gave the lithographer a freedom of line impossible to achieve in earlier intaglio and relief processes. It does not require the same sort of pressure as an engraving to transfer the image, but still has to be printed on separate stock from the text
Marginalia Handwritten notes made in the margins by a previous owner.
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Period-Style binding executed with materials, tools and techniques to approximate the look of a contemporary binding from the period of the book’s publication. The term implies that the binding is modern, or recent, unless otherwise specified.
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Wood-Engraving Engraving made with the graver or burin on the cross-section of a piece of boxwood; the harder wood and finer tools allow for more delicate, finely detailed images, while the block can still be set in the page alongside text and printed on the same stock as the text. While much older, wood engravings enjoyed an important renaissance in the late eighteenth century through Thomas Bewick and continued in popularity thorugh the nineteenth century.
Wormhole Tiny pinhole-sized trails left by bookworms as they eat through a text block. Much more common in older books printed on handmade papers with a high rag content than in books printed on manufactured papers made from wood pulp with a higher acidic content.
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