Recent Acquisitions - Richard C. Ramer Old & Rare Books

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richard c. ramer
all likelihood, according to Sacramento Blake, the manuscript “Descobertas curiosas que
nos reinos vegetal, animal e mineral por sitios e sertões varios das brazilicas provincias
de Bahia, Sergipe e Alagôas fez o capitão Antonio Moniz de Souza e Oliveira,” dated
1824, which was donated to the Instituto Histórico e Geographico Brazileiro in 1846 by
Colonel Ignacio Accioli de Cerqueira e Silva.
j Innocêncio VIII, 259. Sacramento Black I, 267-8 (without collation and with incorrect
date of publication). OCLC: 683406706 (Biblioteca do Senado Federal-Brasilia). Not
located in Porbase. Not located in Copac. Not located in Hollis or Orbis.
180. SPAIN, Constitution, 1812. Discurso preliminar del proyecto de
Constitucion Politica de la Monarquia Española presentado a Las Cortes
Generales y Extraordinarias por su Comision de Constitucion. Valladolid:
En la Imprenta de Cermaño, (1812?). 4°, disbound. Small hole in lower
inner margin of final three leaves, touching a few letters of text, but
never affecting legibility. Slight soiling to title page. Overall a good
copy. 82 pp. $900.00
This Spanish Constitution of 1812 is one of the critical documents in the constitutional
history of the western world. Acting as the first constituent Cortes in their country’s history,
105 deputies (48 of whom were substitutes) framed a charter destined to serve long
after as a cause and a banner for which men fought and died. The term “liberal” was
added to the European political lexicon in order to describe the dominant faction in the
Cortes, and the document produced was indeed liberal, even revolutionary.
Many of the delegates to the Cortes were from the New World. The influence of this
work on Latin American independence movements, as well as on political thought in Latin
America to the present day, was of course profound. The influence of the Constitution can
also be seen, however, in the Portuguese constitution of 1822, the Brazilian constitution of
1824, and in constitutions of Italy, Greece, and even France. It should also be noted that
this was the first written constitution to apply to much of the territory presently part
of the United States: Florida, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California.
The present preliminary discussion of the 1812 Constitution is signed and dated in
print at the end, on p. 82, Cádiz, 24 December 1811 by Diego Muñoz Torrero as President
of the Commission, and by José de Espiga, Joaquin Fernandez de Leyva, Antonio Oliveros,
Vicente Morales Duarez, Antonio Joaquin Perez, Agustin de Argüelles, Mariano
Mendiola, Francisco de Sales Rodriguez de la Bárcena, Alonso Cañedo, Pedro Maria
Ric, Andres Jáuregui, Francisco Gutierrez de la Huerta, and Evaristo Perez de Castro as
Secretary to the Commission.
There are two divisional titles. The first, on p. [37], reads: Continuacion de Proyecto
de Constitucion Política de la Monarquia Española. Presentado a las Cortes Generales y Extraordinarias
por su Comision de Constitucion. Contiene la parte relativa a la Potestad Judicial. The
second, on p. [63], reads: Continuacion y conclusion del Proyecto de Constitucion Política de
la Monarquia Española. Presentado a las Cortes Generales y Extraordinarias por su Comision de
Constitucion. Contiene la parte relativa al govierno interior de las provincias y de los pueblos, á
la observancia de la Constitucion, y modo de proceder para hacer variaciones en ella. The initial
part of the Discurso, which terminates on p. 35, is dated Cádiz, 17 August 1811. The first
continuation is dated Cádiz, 6 November 1811 (p. 61). In all probability this Valladolid