Beschreibung:

DUPAIX, Guillaume -- Antiquités mexicaines . Parts I and II. Paris: Jules Didot senior for the Bureau des Antiquités Mexicaines, 1834.
DUPAIX, Guillaume -- Antiquités mexicaines . Parts I and II. Paris: Jules Didot senior for the Bureau des Antiquités Mexicaines, 1834. 2 volumes in 3, large 2° (537 x 355mm). Half-titles and divisional titles. Additional lithographic title, 164 (of 166) lithographic plates and plans on 159 (of 161) leaves only, after Luciano Castaneda. (Lacking engraved map, plate I from the First Expedition, and plate XXV from the Second Expedition, some spotting, occasional browning in the text.) Text vols in 20th-century green quarter morocco, atlas loose in sheets in a matching box and chemise. FIRST EDITION. AN 'INDISPENSIBLE SUPPLEMENT TO HUMBOLDT'S VOYAGE DANS L'AMERIQUE , as it contains many interesting discoveries not in the latter work' (Sabin), and includes some of the earliest accurate representations of Mayan architecture. Dupaix's expeditions took place between 1805 and 1807 under arduous circumstances and guarded by a troop of Mexican cavalry, but publication was delayed by the uncertainty of the Peninsular War and unrest in Mexico. The subsequent degradation of a number of the sites (by time and insensitive examination) has meant that the drawings are particularly valuable as the only published record of the finds as they emerged from the jungle. Published serially in parts, copies often comprise a varying complement of plates. A TALL COPY WITH DECKLE EDGES. Brunet I, 321; Palau 13069 ('a sumptuous work'); Sabin 40038 (with varying plate counts). (3)