Auction Name: 2026 February 26 Historical Manuscripts & Texana Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 47007

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/6328*47007

Luis Berlandier and Rafael Chovel. Diario de viage de la Comisión de Límites que puso el gobierno de la República, baja la dirección del Exmo. Sr. D. Manuel de Mier y Terán. Mexico: Tipografia de Juan R. Navarro, 1850.

First edition. 8vo. 298, [i] pp. With the scarce lithograph portrait of Mier y Terán, facing the biography of Don José María Tornel in the preliminaries. Contemporary (likely original) quarter dark green calf and marbled boards, spine gilt-decorated.

Berlandier was part of the commission sent out by the Mexican government in 1827 to explore the boundaries of Texas. He spent nearly three years in the southwestern wilderness, much of the time in Texas, and this is his day-by-day journal and reports, which provide the most detailed description of Texas at the time.

Jenkins writes, "The best scientific study of Texas during the colonial period. Berlandier came to Mexico to collect botanical specimens for a group of Swiss naturalists, and to accompany Gen. Manuel de Mier y Terán on his scientific expedition to Texas in 1828...he was observant, careful, and intelligent, and he left us a record that is unmatched for his era in Texas."

Condition: Boards rubbed with some scuffs, small chips at the edges, and minor discoloration to the rear cover; spine sunned. Textblock lightly toned with some foxing, largely confined to the endpapers.

Reference: Graff 278; Jenkins Basic Texas Books 14; Raines, p. 24; Wagner-Camp IV:178a.

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