Bidspirit auction | 1884-1889. Riva Palacio, Vicente (Ed.).

1884-1889. Riva Palacio, Vicente (Ed.). México á través de los siglos. Ballescá y Espasa. Two Volumes. - A pair of large-format folio volumes from the monumental encyclopedic historical series México á través de los siglos, published under the general direction of General Vicente Riva Palacio. This lot includes Tomo II (El Vireinato), authored by Riva Palacio, and Tomo V (La Reforma), authored by D. José M. Vigil. The work was a joint publication by Ballescá y Compañía in Mexico and Espasa y Compañía in Barcelona. The volumes are bound in the publisher's original red cloth with highly decorative front boards featuring a polychrome and gilt design centered on an Aztec sun stone, framed by tropical palm leaves, indigenous statues, and a border of pre-Hispanic motifs. The rear boards are blind-stamped with a black decorative central monogram featuring the letters EB or CBE within a diamond-shaped lattice border. The interiors are extensively illustrated with chromolithograph plates, black-and-white engravings, and woodcuts. Notable illustrations include a colored plate of religious habits in New Spain and portraits of figures such as Manuel Payno, José María Mata, and various Mexican generals. Also included is a facsimile of the final page of a letter from Benito Juárez to General Don Ramón Corona. Fair to poor. The volumes show significant external wear consistent with age and use. The spine of Tomo II is heavily damaged with substantial material loss at the head, exposing the underlying binding structure and cloth backing. Both volumes exhibit fraying at the extremities, bumped corners with exposed board, and general scuffing to the cloth surfaces. Internally, there is widespread foxing and toning to the paper. Several plates, most notably the chromolithograph of religious habits, show surface abrasions and small areas of paper loss. The binding of Tomo II is shaken, and some leaves are starting to loosen.