Gamboa, Francisco Javier | Comentarios a las ordenanzas de minas, first edition

Gamboa, Francisco Javier 

Comentarios a las ordenanzas de minas… Madrid: Joachin Ibarra, 1761

Folio (296 x 206 mm). Half-title, 3 engraved folding plates; faint marginal dampstaining affecting a few leaves, small stain to title page, some dampstaining to lower margins of plates, a few stray spots, but overall a clean, crisp copy. Contemporary vellum over pasteboard, manuscript title on spine; staining to vellum, area of lower cover slightly chewed, remnants of two pairs of ties, inner joints cracked, but ties holding. 

First edition.

Born in Guadalajara in 1717, Francisco Javier Gamboa practiced law in Mexico City. In 1755, he went to Madrid, where he expanded his legal knowledge by studying mining and geology, thus becoming one of the few Spanish legal experts to specialize in these subjects. 

Comentarios a las ordenanzas de minas is Gamboa’s account of the “New Code”—a code of mining laws of 1584—and subsequent ordinances for Mexico and other Spanish colonies. The work also includes information on surveying mines, mining equipment, details of silver and gold mining in Mexico, a list of mining districts, and a glossary of technical terms.

REFERENCES

Hoover 82; Palau 97362; Sabin 26509

PROVENANCE

Sotheby’s New York, 13 December 2002, lot 29