Slavery; CubaBiblio.com
131 résultats
1870231221870. Slavery Cuba Spanish colonial slave sale manuscript recording the transfer of four enslaved individuals in Cuba in 1870. Produced within the official bureaucratic framework of Spanish colonial governance the document reflects the legal normalization of slavery in Cuba even as abolitionist pressures mounted across the Atlantic world. The document records the sale of four enslaved people described as "criollos" and African-born individuals situating the transaction within a labor system that combined locally born and imported enslaved populations. Created at a time when Spain had formally restricted the transatlantic slave trade but continued to permit slavery itself the manuscript demonstrates the persistence of legalized human commodification and the integration of enslaved labor into the island's economic structure sixteen years prior to abolition in 1886.<br /> <br /> Official Cuban slave contract documenting the sale of four enslaved individuals to Don Pedro Catasús by Don Enfemia Ochoa for the sum of 1100 pesos on November 29 1870. Single manuscript leaf written in Spanish cursive in black ink measuring 8.25" x 12". A green "50 cs de escudo" revenue stamp is affixed at the top center with a blind embossed Spanish crest at the upper left and a circular black ink government seal impressed at the lower left. Large vertical docketing appears on the verso. A stylized watermark is visible within the paper. The text organizes the enslaved individuals within a standardized transactional structure while the signatures of Enfemia Ochoa Pedro Catasús and A. Díaz de Rada authenticate the exchange and identify participants within the slaveholding economy.<br /> <br /> By 1870 Cuba remained a central node in the late Atlantic slave system with plantation agriculture especially sugar dependent on enslaved labor despite mounting abolitionist pressure. Although Spain had curtailed official slave imports earlier in the century illegal trafficking persisted into the 1860s and other coerced labor systems including the importation of Chinese indentured workers overlapped with slavery into the 1870s. The presence of both Creole and African individuals in this document reflects the layered composition of the enslaved population during this period. Light toning scattered foxing and edge wear visible. A closed wormhole extends from the upper right margin approximately five inches into the sheet resulting in partial loss of text. Evidence of prior tape reinforcement visible on the verso along with offsetting from previously adjacent material. Overall in very good condition. This document provides named transactional evidence of late-period slavery in Cuba offering concrete material for examining race labor and legal practice within Spanish colonial society. unknown
1870231191870. Slavery Cuba Spanish colonial manuscript documenting the late persistence of slavery in Cuba recording the sale of five enslaved Creole individuals including women and children 1870. Produced within the official bureaucratic framework of Spanish colonial governance the document reflects the legal normalization of slavery in Cuba even as abolitionist pressures mounted across the Atlantic world. The presence of multiple children within the transaction underscores the hereditary nature of enslavement and the commodification of family units offering direct material evidence of how slavery functioned socially and economically in its final decades on the island. Although Spain had formally ended the transatlantic slave trade earlier in the century illegal trafficking and internal slave markets persisted and slavery itself would not be abolished in Cuba until 1886 placing this document within a crucial transitional period marked by reform debates gradual emancipation laws and continued exploitation.<br /> <br /> Official Cuban slave contract recording the sale of five enslaved individuals identified as "criollos" including one adult woman and four children from Santiago Simón Fambi to Don Pedro Catasús for the sum of 1200 pesos on November 21 1870. Single page manuscript leaf measuring 8.25" x 12". The manuscript is written in Spanish cursive hand in black ink. The upper left bears a blind embossed crest of Spain while a circular black ink government seal is impressed at the lower left partially overlapping the text. The text enumerates the enslaved individuals with ages and names embedding human lives within the formulaic language of sale and valuation while the bold signatures of both seller Santiago Simón Fambi and buyer Pedro Catasús anchor the transaction in identifiable actors within the colonial economy.<br /> <br /> By 1870 slavery in Spanish Cuba remained central to the island's plantation economy particularly in sugar production which had expanded rapidly in the mid-19th century with industrialized mills and global demand. Enslaved people were primarily forced into agricultural labor under highly regimented and brutal conditions though others were used in urban domestic service skilled trades or as hired laborers generating income for their owners. This document exhibits light toning edge wear and scattered foxing throughout. A closed wormhole extends approximately two inches from the upper right margin inward not affecting legibility of the text. Minor losses and small tears along the edges. Overall in very good condition. Given that this document records a woman and four children the family was likely intended for a combination of field labor and domestic or auxiliary work with the children gradually incorporated into plantation labor as they aged reflecting the system's reliance on both immediate exploitation and the reproduction of enslaved labor over time. unknown
18806249Habana 1880. About very good. 199xxi3pp. Contemporary quarter red leather with modern marbled boards spine gilt. Light wear to binding. Minor soiling and wear to text. "Ultima edicion" originally published in 1857. This charming Cuban production is divided into three parts -- Sopas; Menestras Salsas Legumbres Frituras y Menudencias; and Pasteleria Reposteria y Dulceria. Each section has an index at the end of the text. The work includes local flavors such as Sopa Cubana; Ajiaco de Puerto-Principe; Lengua a la Criolla; Jigote Cubano; Pargo a la Americana; and more. We locate two copies of the 1857 edition of this work. Though we find a listing in OCLC there are no physical locations attached. unknown
18636222Havana 1863. Good. Two partially printed broadsheets completed in manuscript 13 x 9 inches. Old folds wear at edges; some light worming slightly affecting text. Lightly soiled. A pair of documents recording the indenture of a Chinese national in Havana. The present documents contract the "Asiatico Francisco" as a cook to Don Jose Antonio Battle y Olle; the contract is dated June 28 1861 and is signed by "Francisco" in Chinese characters for a term of two years. At the end it is noted in manuscript that the Asiatico Francisco has completed the two years of his contract. The cedula is dated 1863 and indicates that Francisco is 33 years of age and now indentured for eight years as a "cocinero." An interesting pair of documents showing the continuing servitude of imported Chinese laborers particularly attractive for being signed in Chinese characters. unknown
1854WRCAM46994Havana 1854. Broadside 12 1/2 x 8 inches. Printed on green paper. Old fold lines. Light wear and soiling minor separation at some folds. A few contemporary notations. Very good. Cuban broadside advertising a bullfight featuring matador Don Manuel Rodriguez Lanza and the "8 toros de muerte." The top of the sheet features a woodcut of a matador holding his cape out to a bull. The first swordsman for the fight is Manuel Diaz Lavi with two alternates listed. The names of the Banderilleros and Picadores for the fight are also noted. Bullfighting was a popular entertainment in Cuba during the Spanish colonial period though it was done away with after Cuban independence at the beginning of the 20th century. unknown books
1850230131Um 1850. In der Platte bezeichnet. 27 x 39,8 cm (Darstellung) 39 x 49 cm (Papier).
1850WRCAM51706Havana 1850. 4pp. on a bifolium 15 3/4 x 10 1/2 inches. Printed in three columns. Previously folded with some short separations along fold lines and a closed tear to top edge. Somewhat tanned with some dust soiling in upper portion of first leaf recto. Good plus. Bifolium printing of twenty-four directives intended to govern the operation of vessels in the port of Havana. They include provisions for the arrival and departure of ships their docking and mooring the storage of gunpowder while in port fire prevention and penalties for carrying firearms or other deadly weapons ashore. The document is printed in three columns which provide versions of the regulations in Spanish English and French. Daniel Warren mentioned here as the port officer in charge of preventing desertions and illegal transfers of men from ship to ship is also named as Havana shipping master in an 1858 letter from the American Consul Thomas Savage to the Governor of Havana included in a contemporary United States Senate report on foreign trade. "As early as 1828 Irish migrant Daniel Warren established 'a deposit for foreign sailors and artisans' in Havana providing an initial place for them to stay while looking for work"- Curry-Machado. A very rare piece of Cuban maritime ephemera with OCLC noting only one copy at the Harvard Law Library. OCLC 81408661. Curry-Machado CUBAN SUGAR INDUSTRY p.74. unknown books
1898231301898. Spanish-American War stereoview archive circa 1898-1899 documenting how the war was pictured through mass-produced photographic views that followed U.S. mobilization battlefield action occupation and military life across both Cuba and the Philippines. These stereoviews preserves the visual system by which the war was circulated to American audiences showcasing camp organization troop movement burial hospital care naval power and overseas deployment. Particularly notable is the archive's coverage of the Rough Riders the Santiago campaign in Cuba and U.S. presence in Manila and Malate showing how stereoview photography helped normalize the war's expansion from anti-Spanish conflict into a broader American imperial presence.<br /> <br /> Archive of 21 stereoviews Various publishers. Spanish-American War stereoview archive. Cuba the Philippines and the United States circa 1898-1899. each measuring 3" x 7". The views are drawn from multiple phases and theaters of the war including camp and drill scenes in the United States embarkation and troop arrivals at Tampa battlefield and occupation imagery from Cuba and extensive and some grisly scenes from Manila and surrounding areas in the Philippines. Captions and images show soldiers in formation cavalry drill military reviews naval artillery hospital interiors encampments burial grounds and troops in active position. Cuban views include Morro Castle after bombardment dead and wounded on the battlefield of Santiago U.S. soldiers preparing to invade Cuba and troops dining near Cabañas Fortress. Philippine views include a departure for Manila American pickets routing a Filipino reconnoitering party the 18th Infantry engaged by Filipino outposts volunteers awaiting orders under the tropical sun Army Hospital Manila and "Our Boys in Camp at Malate P.I." One stereoview identifies Roosevelt's Rough Riders in the mobilization phase linking the archive to one of the war's most publicly mythologized units.<br /> <br /> As a group the stereoviews demonstrate the process by which the Spanish-American War was framed not simply as a short military victory over Spain but as a sustained structure of U.S. troop deployment and occupation extending from Cuba into the Philippines. The Manila and Malate scenes are especially important in this regard since they place American soldiers within the opening phase of the Philippine conflict where U.S. military presence quickly moved beyond liberation rhetoric into imperial control. The archive's mixture of battlefield casualties camp routine naval spectacle and celebratory review scenes shows how stereoscopic publishing converted war into a domestic viewing experience while reinforcing the legitimacy of American expansion abroad. Wear to mounts some toning; overall very good condition. A strong cross-theater visual archive of the Spanish-American War and the emergence of U.S. imperial power in Cuba and the Philippines. unknown
1832WRCAM51901Havana 1832. 18pp. Folio. Loose leaves. Heavy worming mostly marginal but somewhat affecting text in places. Light dampstaining and foxing. Good. An extensive list of fugitives from Cuban courts that covers the period from 1822 to 1832. Each section comprises a catalogue of men tried before a specific court and individual entries provide names brief descriptions mostly of skin color birthplaces likely places of residence and crimes committed together with the sentences handed down. Many men are condemned to the gallows or are facing long sentences in African or other overseas prison camps. This list was also printed as a part of the Oct. 9 1832 issue of DIARIO DE LA HABANA but a separate printing as in the present example is not found in OCLC or the relevant bibliographies. unknown books
18183189Havana 1818. Good. Broadside 11.75 x 8 inches. Heavily tanned. An apparently unrecorded Havana imprint comprising a broadside authorization for increased funding to be extended to the superintendent of Havana so that he can maximize the potential of the island's tobacco plantations. This credit is matched by the superintendent’s promise to use the money "con el preciso destino de comprar y remitir á España las mayores cantidades posibles de este género." The superintendent must also swear to be vigilant and honest in his account-taking reports to Spain and "Avise con toda la anticipacion posible los acopios y compras que verifique à proporcion que tenga de hacerlos y probabilidad en las remesas con seguridad aprovechándo todas las ocasiones que se le presenten para remitir cigarros y hoja de buena calidad á la Peninsula aunque sea con bandera extrangera." Signed in print and rubricated in manuscript by Pedro Carambot a Cuban official of the late 1810s. Not in OCLC. unknown
1856WRCAM53452New York: Nathaniel Currier 1856. Broadside 10 x 13 inches. Foxed bottom right corner chipped. Lower margin trimmed costing the title. Good only. Framed under glass. A scarce political cartoon regarding the controversial Ostend Manifesto the initially- secret attempt by the United States to purchase Spanish-controlled Cuba. Earlier President Franklin Pierce had instructed Pierre Soulé upon his appointment as minister to Spain in April 1853 to negotiate to buy Cuba. Three American foreign ministers serving in Europe - James Buchanan John Y. Mason and Soulé - met secretly at Ostend Belgium in late 1854 to draft a plan to either buy Cuba from Spain or force Spain to give up Cuba by inciting a Cuban revolution. The plan met with overwhelming opposition once it was made public in America. <br> <br> In the present political cartoon Buchanan is attacked for his role in the Ostend controversy. He is surrounded by four armed ruffians seeking to rob him of his coat hat watch and money a particularly sharp turn- about on the American minister to Great Britain. The muggers' demands include quotations from the manifesto which is pasted to the fence at right. Buchanan calls out: "Why! Why! This is rank robbery! Help! Help! All honest men!" <br> <br> The fallout from the Ostend controversy was widespread. President Pierce's Democratic Party split asunder after he refused to continue any discussions of the plan or any other expansionist ideas; Soulé understandably resigned; and the international community saw it as a threat to Spanish sovereignty in the region. Oddly enough James Buchanan was not too hurt by the controversy; he was easily elected president in 1856 and still harbored hope for Cuban annexation. He was smart enough however to table the Cuba question for the foreseeable future after meeting with both popular opposition and increasingly bitter sectional conflict the latter only spurred on by incidents such as the Ostend controversy. CURRIER & IVES: CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ 5021. NEVINS & WEITENKAMPF p.72-73. Nathaniel Currier unknown books
18223190Havana: January 5 1822. Good. Broadside 11.5 x 8 inches. Foxed faint signs of folding a few small wormholes not affecting text. An apparently unrecorded broadside order from the captain general of Cuba Nicolas Mahy directing all able-bodied men under the age of fifty to join up with their local militias in order to keep the peace. The local militias are directed to go out on nightly forays "en nùmero capaz de evitar las incursiones de los salteadores por los caminos y la desercion que pueda acontecer de los negros de los ingenios cafetales y demas haciendas." Additionally all men between the ages of fifty and seventy are told to report to “las casas mas fuertes de los pueblos" to form a garrison that can protect women children and the elderly in case of insurrection. By the formation of these militias and the establishment of "el uso de los pasaportes" it was hoped to identify and arrest "los vagos y mal entretenidos." All mayors within ten days of receipt of this regulation were to report the number of men they had enlisted along with their particulars. In the early 1820s much of Spanish colonial America was gripped by revolution and with these orders the Cuban government likely hoped to avoid similar unrest on the island. Several independence groups had been formed in Cuba as of the promulgation of this decree the largest of which was the Soles y Rayos de Bolívar established in 1821. Signed in print by Mahy; not in OCLC. January 5 unknown
18841574Habana 1884. Good plus. 2496 i.e. 498pp. Quarto. Contemporary calf gilt a.e.g.; rebacked with original spine laid down. Corners repaired with later black buckram; boards scuffed spine chipped. Hinges cracked repaired with later cloth and renewed endpapers. Minor scattered foxing and toning to text. Accomplished in a neat highly legible hand. A very attractive manuscript translation into Spanish of Pierre Larousse's well-known work on eminent and historical personages Fleurs Historiques des Dames et des Gens du Monde in a contemporary Cuban gilt goatskin binding. The manuscript connects three figures in the upper social echelons of Cuban society. José Fernandez Pellon the scribe of this volume is recorded as the Grand Master of Cuba's freemasons lodge the Gran Logia Unida de Colón y la Isla de Cuba. The translator Aurelio Almeida helped to found the organization in 1875 and at this time served as the Lodge Secretary. The initials E.D. gilt at the foot of the spine and the dedicatory inscription "A Eugenia Desvernine" refer to Eugenia Desvernine y Galdós b. 1865 daughter of the famous Cuban pianist Pablo Desvernine and Carolina Galdós y Echániz. She was also the niece of Benito Pérez Galdós the Spanish realist novelist who some authorities consider only second in stature to Cervantes. A contemporary social register remarks that Eugenia was one of the most beautiful women in Cuba perhaps an inspiration for the painstaking production of this manuscript. The original work by Larousse was a loose collection of religious parables classical myths biographies of ancient and modern historical figures. The title of the manuscript advises that is an extract and in the brief introduction Almeida explains his selection process writing that "He suprimido algunos artÃculos sobre cosas muy sabidas de la historia sagrada; y otros sobre la de Francia que mencionan frases ó personas casi ninca citadas ó citades solamente por las escritores francesas." He also notes several alterations and additions more relevant to Spanish history saying "En Cambio he agregado algunos artÃculos sobre historia de España que no están en el original y he tomado unos pocos de otra obra del mismo Mr. Larousse y de libros diversos." The result is an original amalgam of biographies historical episodes and religious parables. Interestingly we find no recorded printed editions of Larousse's work in Spanish so that the present manuscript is also an entirely original work of translation. A fascinating product of the cultural interests and mores of Cuban high society near the end of the Spanish colonial period. unknown books
1815WRCAM49642Havana: Esteban José de Boloña 1815. 19pp. Gathered signatures stitched. Stitching mostly perished. Light fold lines minimal foxing ink marginal notations contemporary ink inscription after the text. Very good. An early Cuban imprint printed by Esteban José de Boloña the first printer in Cuba after the 1776 ban on printing. Juan de Arrondo y Santilices was an official in Spanish Florida the Auditor of War of East Florida during the early 19th century. This is a work detailing the deeds of Arrondo y Santilices likely an attempt to secure a pension. Rare with one copy located by OCLC at the John Carter Brown Library. Esteban José de Boloña unknown books
1875231241875. Slavery Cuba Spanish colonial slave sale manuscript recording the transfer of thirty-eight enslaved individuals in Cuba in 1875 materializing the sheer scale and organization of enslaved labor within the island's plantation economy during the final decade before abolition. The document enumerates a large group of enslaved people including multiple family units with young children demonstrating how slavery functioned as both an economic system and a hereditary condition sustained through the sale and reproduction of enslaved populations. Created eleven years prior to the abolition of slavery in Cuba in 1886 the manuscript documents the continued legality and normalization of large-scale slave transactions despite decades of international pressure and earlier prohibitions on the transatlantic trade offering concrete evidence of how internal markets sustained the institution in its final phase.<br /> <br /> Official Cuban slave contract documenting the sale of thirty-eight enslaved individuals for the sum of 126000 pesetas formalized before a public notary or legal authority. Single manuscript leaf written in Spanish cursive in black ink on both recto and verso densely filled with names ages and relational identifiers. Measures 8.5" x 12.25". The text lists individuals sequentially including men women and children with repeated references to kinship structures such as mothers with multiple children indicating the sale of family groupings rather than isolated individuals. The script reflects extended passages detailing ownership exclusions and conditions of transfer. A partial watermark of the official coat of arms of Cuba is visible. <br /> By 1875 Cuba remained one of the last major slave societies in the Atlantic world with sugar production driving demand for large controlled labor forces. Even after Spain curtailed the official slave trade earlier in the century illegal importation persisted into the 1860s and alternative systems of coerced labor including Chinese indenture supplemented plantation workforces. The scale of this transaction demonstrates the consolidation and redistribution of enslaved labor within domestic markets while the inclusion of children underscores the long-term economic logic of slavery as a self-reproducing system. Moderate toning and foxing concentrated along the edges with numerous small closed wormholes a few affecting portions of the text. Light edge wear present. Overall in good condition. This document provides unusually extensive nominal data on a large enslaved population encompassing the roles of kinship valuation and labor organization in late Spanish colonial Cuba. unknown
1847WRCAM56260Havana Cuba and onboard ship to New Orleans 1847. 11pp. in black or blue ink on two different Cuban pictorial letter sheets plus a folded sheet of plain paper the latter also used as the enclosure for the entire letter addressed on verso of last page of enclosure. Minor soiling old folds with a few short fold separations and a longer separation in last folded sheet. Last sheet with small abrasion from removed wax seal most of which remains. Overall good plus condition. A lengthy and interesting letter from a Pennsylvania businessman named M.L. Dawson to his "dear wife" back in Philadelphia written over the course of a few weeks during his time in Havana and onboard a ship traveling from Cuba to New Orleans in the spring of 1847. Being written over the course of several entries the letter also acts as a kind of brief diary of Dawson's time in Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico and contains much information on the people and places he saw in and around Havana and much on the ship's activities on the way to Louisiana. Two- thirds of the letter is written on two separate Cuban letter sheets that are themselves rare and desirable printed ephemeral items from mid-19th century Cuba. <br> <br> The eleven-page letter covers Dawson's stay in Havana and his voyage to New Orleans. He writes that he had previously arrived in Havana from Philadelphia. His letter begins on March 7 and Dawson details trips on horseback to the Cuban countryside which he finds beautiful. He comments on odd Cuban funerary practices Cuban agricultural products seeing the home where Santa Anna spent his exile and gives firsthand observations on the effects of slavery. He witnesses a scene in Havana where slaves are chained and forced to make repairs while being overseen by men with whips and muskets. Dawson comments that despite the beauty of the countryside "the evidence of Slavery is every where apparent." Also apparent are "the ravages of the awful storm of the 10th month last" a reference to the devastating October 11 1846 hurricane the effect of which is depicted in each of the letter sheets here. Dawson also reports on being invited to breakfast by a Cuban nobleman but was so taken aback by the food and the experience that he vows never to repeat the experience. <br> <br> After departing Havana for New Orleans on May 9 on the Brig P. Soule Dawson reports on various shipboard activities a disagreeable cursing captain slow progress boredom and seasickness. He comments on claret as the typical drink for breakfast. The letter ends on April 1 when Dawson's ship anchors in New Orleans Road. He closes with a promise to write again soon after he lands in New Orleans and sends kisses and love to his children and relatives. <br> <br> The Cuban letter sheets Dawson employs for more than two-thirds of his letter are interesting and attractive printed items in their own right. The first titled HURACAN DEL 11 DE OCTUBRE DE 1846 EN LA HABANA shows a lithographed scene of various ships in an angry sea being tossed against a breakwater in Havana harbor during the October 11 1846 hurricane. One passenger is being rescued with a breeches buoy while other ships flounder in the distance. The second letter sheet is titled TEATRO PRINCIPAL DE LA HABANA. The scene at the head of this sheet shows further destruction of the October 11 hurricane centered on the damaged ruins of the Teatro Principal Main Theater near the harbor. Two men in top hats survey the damage while an African-American man stands at left center holding long boards. Havana harbor is visible in the background showing two paddlewheel steamers and other ships damaged or sunken in the harbor. <br> <br> Mordecai L. Dawson was the proprietor of M.L. Dawson & Co. a brewery in Philadelphia. Here Dawson addresses the letter to his company noting the letter is specifically intended "for E Dawson" his wife. The Dawson brewery opened in 1820 at 79 Chestnut Street then moved to the corner of 10th and Filbert Streets in 1830 after the company purchased the old Farmers' Brewery in 1829. Dawson apparently closed his brewery in 1849 not long after penning this letter home. Though he does not state it explicitly in his letter Dawson may have been traveling to Cuba to establish an import business. Philadelphia was a pipeline for numerous imports into Cuba in the mid-19th century including beer. <br> <br> An interesting record of one man's sojourn to Cuba in the 1840s with notable observations on slavery and the Cuban situation in the wake of the October 11 1846 hurricane written mostly on two attractive and rare Cuban letter sheets that also memorialize the hurricane. hardcover books
18842025Matanzas 1884. Still very good. 3 leaves plus 4pp. pamphlet in original plain wrappers string tied. Light wear at edges. A few very small worm holes. Contemporary ink stamps. Light tanning and foxing. The Spanish Cortes approved a gradual manumission law in 1880 for slaves in Cuba that provided for an eight-year period of patronato tutelage for all slaves liberated according to the law which essentially amounted to indentured servitude. The transition to the patronato system was overseen by a provincial network of government agencies called Juntas de Patronato. Most of the workings of the slave system were preserved but patrocinados as former slaves came to be known received a minimal set of legal rights and were to be paid a token wage. <br/><br/>This fascinating set of Cuban manumission documents from the Junta de Patronato of Matanzas records this process and contains a rare cedula de patrocinado an identification booklet stating a slave is now a freedman with a supporting sponsor. The cedula completed in manuscript states that "Moreno Luis Morejon Natural de Africa.Vecino del Potrero Miraflores.Patrocinado de Da Josefa Morejon de Rodriguez" is "Gratis Sin Enmienda" as of September 15 1881. The second leaf of the pamphlet prints the rights of the freedman and the responsibilities of the sponsor such as the provision of food clothing and nominal salary. <br/><br/>The second document present here is a contemporaneous manuscript letter from Josefa Morejon de Rodriguez confirming that she will act as sponsor for the freedman and the final document dated January 28 1884 and signed by Rodriguez and the relevant local magistrates states that the sponsorship has been completed and is now legally concluded. With the ink stamp of the Matanzas Junta Provincial on first page and the contemporary stamps of several other relevant authorities. An outstanding record of the process of gradual manumission in Cuba during the last years of legal slavery on the island with a rare surviving freedman's identification book. unknown books
18455182Habana: Impresas por D. V. de Torres 1845. Good. 533pp. Contemporary plain blue wrappers separated at spine. Stitched as issued with additional small stabholes at gutter where previously bound into a sammelband. Light foxing and dust soiling. A seemingly unrecorded architectural pamphlet that prints the first comprehensive building code for Havana developed in 1837 by Isidoro Sánchez y Fuentes the city’s Director of Public Works. The text outlines detailed rules for the construction of buildings and related infrastructure to accord to high technical aesthetic and public health standards influenced by such regulations as had been imposed in Madrid Toledo and Seville. Sánchez’s code proved highly consequential and it resulted in significant improvements to the appearance livability and safety of many Havana neighborhoods.<br /> <br /> In the 18th century Madrid Seville and Toledo suffered from many of the same problems of haphazard urban development as Havana. However great efforts were made to develop and enforce building codes which cleaned up most of these city’s formerly slum-like suburbs of great benefit to public health not to mention aesthetics. Teodoro Ardemans Madrid’s Director of Public Works began the reforms in these Spanish cities and his 1720 work on the subject was fantastically influential for generations going through multiple reprints until 1848. Isidoro Sánchez adapted Ardemans’ concepts but updated and improved them to the requirements of the tropical climate and customs of Havana. He thus developed the first comprehensive building code for the Cuban capital which was one of the most progressive and well-considered in the Americas. <br /> <br /> Two preambles begin the work by discussing the importance of taking architectural inspiration from the buildings of classical antiquity and of considering the historical context and significance of reformed Spanish building codes. The bulk of the text takes up a variety of interesting and practical topics -- erecting urban and suburban buildings; respecting neighbors’ rights when building homes shared alleyways building ovens in light of nearby homes; creating ventanas de medianería large windows that can open or close depending the temperature and breeze; how garages should open onto public thoroughfares; where building materials should be manufactured; building basements; building balconies etc. on public streets; drainage systems and sewers; creating wells and other drinking water sources; where to build forges without disturbing neighbors; large windows for basements; building attics; and air circulation.<br /> <br /> Sánchez presented his proposed code to the City Council on June 10 1837 and in 1839 it was approved in full by the Governor but the printing of the text was only approved in April 1845 according to the introduction. We locate no copies of this significant work in OCLC or available auction records. Impresas por D. V. de Torres unknown
187312720Cuba 1873. Twelve manuscript documents on folio sheets approximately 8.5 x 12.5 inches all with official rubber-stamped seal. Small pinholes along left margin light wear occasional chipping to edges some ink bleed and light damp staining. Overall very good. A collection of documents recording the liberation or attempted liberation of numerous men women teenagers and a child from enslavement. The child is but seven years old while the remaining slaves range from fifteen to fifty-seven years old. The slave trade ended in Cuba around 1867 but the practice of owning slaves remained legal until 1880 and then was abolished completely by Spanish decree in 1886. Cuba was the penultimate country to outlaw slavery in the western hemisphere beating Brazil to formal abolishment by two years. Even before the official abolition of slavery in Cuba African or criollo slaves were manumitted by a variety of owners and at various costs as evidenced here especially after the practice of importing Chinese indentured servants began. Each of the present documents names the slaveholder and the slave granted "libertad" along with the cost in escudos or pesetas of that liberty. The slaves liberated here are as follows:<br /> <br /> 1 Luis criollo 7 years old for the sum of 28 pesos<br /> <br /> 2 Maria Antonia part criolla 20 years old for the sum of 2500 pesetas<br /> <br /> 3 Catalina morena de Africa 41 years old for c.200 pesetas<br /> <br /> 4 Lorenzo moreno criollo 21 years old for 2500 pesetas<br /> <br /> 5 Lucia morena criolla 15 years old for 320 pesos or 1600 pesetas<br /> <br /> 6 Frigidae "negro.de Africae" 56 years old<br /> <br /> 7 Augusto criollo 19 years old for 1750 pesetas<br /> <br /> 8 Marta criolla 16 years old for 1621 pesetas<br /> <br /> 9 Gil moreno de Africa 57 years old for 1500 pesos<br /> <br /> 10 Carmita morena criolla 20 years old for 1750 pesetas<br /> <br /> 11 Augustina Prieto morena criolla 30 years old for 1750 pesetas<br /> <br /> 12 Edwigio 39 criolla; Lazara 36 criolla; and Maria Leoncia 15 criolla for 2000 pesetas.<br /> <br /> These Cuban slave manumissions are offered with one 1844 manumission document liberating a slave in Spain totaling two pages and measuring about 8.5 x 13.5 inches. The document also has three rubber-stamped official seals at the head noting Isabella II. This document appears to free slave Nicolas 25 years old for the sum of 400 pesos and is signed November 5 1844. unknown
1865974Santiago de Cuba 1865. Very good. 10 leaves. Removed from a larger volume and restitched. Minor wear and one small area of worming at edges. Light tanning and foxing. Accomplished in several legible hands. A fantastic set of manuscript records for a slave auction house the General Slave Depository in Santiago de Cuba dating to January 1865. Santiago along with Havana and Cienfuegos was one of three major sites for slave sales on the island during the 19th century. The first leaf of the document provides a statement that the documents were assembled in accordance with the rules established for slave auctions which had been updated and approved at the end of the previous year. The second two documents lay out mortgage agreements and financial obligations between the slave house and the Real Sociedad Economica de Amigos de Pais of the city in which the auction owners acknowledge debts and forthcoming payments on the order of several thousand pesos. Following these are two leaves containing a "Relacion de los esclavos ecsistentes en el deposito de esta Ciudad en el dia de la fecha" that is a list of slaves at the depository on the day of the auction and their owners and renters which perhaps were a part of the collateral for securing the loan. A total of twenty-nine slaves are listed and the leaf that follows certifies that the list is correct according the to the director and the auctioneer of the depository. The final two leaves provide official recognition of the loan from two distinct government offices. All documents are signed by the relevant parties and government officials involved in the agreement. In all the present group of documents provides a detailed assessment of debts and human assets of the slave auction house in Santiago de Cuba in the mid-1860s and is a fascinating and valuable document of the bureaucracy and regulation surrounding the financial realities of selling slaves in Cuba during this period. unknown books
18673977Havana: August 3 1867. Good. 7pp. on pre-printed folio forms completed in manuscript. Later staple. Moderate tanning and edge wear short separations along some folds. A manuscript manifest listing of 285 Chinese field hands who undoubtedly signed up as indentured laborers in their quest to escape the hardships of China in the vain hope of a better life in Cuba. The document begins "Lista de los colones que fueron embarcados en China." with the name of the French ship on which they were transported "barca francesa nombrada Ephrem" filled in and the captain noted as Boucand. The Chinese name of each "colono" settler is given and also their adopted Christian name as well as age ranging from 18 to 35 sex all men and profession all field laborers "campo". Seven of the listings have an "X" next to them along with "Falleco" passed away written in the column headed "Defuncion." Among those who died on the voyage is a 26-year-old man named Ping Chiong given the Christian name of "Angel."<br /> <br /> Formal slavery persisted in Cuba until 1886 but from the mid-19th century it was accompanied by a significant population working in indentured servitude. Cuba's massive sugar industry had consumed huge imports of African slaves in the 18th century. The abolition of the slave trade in 1808 vigorously enforced by the British Navy meant that a new source of labor was necessary. Indentured servitude became the predominant source for labor in the region. Unlike the earlier waves of European immigrants who travelled to the New World as indentured servants Asia was now the primary source. Between 1848 and 1874 125000 Chinese indentured servants arrived in Cuba alone - a figure outstripped only by the number who indentured themselves in California. A high percentage of these laborers were kidnapped from their homeland with many unable to survive the long passage from China to Cuba as the present document illustrates in sad detail. If these Chinese indentured laborers were fortunate enough to survive the voyage to Cuba these men quickly found out that their working life in the coffee and sugar fields was tantamount to slavery. August 3 unknown
1852List2521London 1852. Five groups of documents measuring 13 x 8 inches various paginations see full description below. Fine condition. A scarce set of primary source documents relating to the protection of British territory in the Caribbean in particular along the Mosquito Coast during the period of varied interests in the area in the period following the Anglo-Spanish agreement on the slave trade. Consisting of a series of secretarial copies of reports delivered to Peter McQuhae Commodore of H.M.S. Imauam stationed in Jamaica these dispatches offer an overview of the issues confronting the British Navy in Jamaica during the period and in the Caribbean more broadly. Most of the documents refer to issues with Cuba the most interesting perhaps being a letter warning of an impending filibustering expedition against Cuba by a pro-slavery faction in the American South. <br /> <br /> The group consists of five groups of bound documents some bound out of order and likely bound later. Contents are as follows: <br /> <br /> 1. Addington A.M. Four Page Report Concerning Placing a Ship of War at Grey Town to Discourage Invasions on the Mosquito Coast March 13 1851. <br /> <br /> Henry Addington writes McQuhae to recommend stationing a warship at Grey Town:<br /> <br /> “.it would be sufficient that a Ship of War should from time to time look in grey Town without remaining there at any time long enough to endanger the health of the crew… to provide for the case which is possiblee tho’ not at all likely that during the interval between the visits of a Ship of War some expedition of Nicaraguan or some of the North Americans returning from California might take advantage of the comparatively unprotected state of the lace to take possession of it and that the cruiser on its return to Grey Town might find the place so occupied Lord Palmerston concieves taht in such an event it would seem to be inconsistent with the Honor of this Country that a British Ship of War should acquiesce in such an aggression and it would be right that the intruder should be expelled if the Commander of the Ship of War should find as he probably would that he had the means of doing so without much difficulty and that in case he should repel the intruders and re-establish the authorities of the Mosquito Government demanding the liberation of any British or Mosquito subjects who might have been made Prisoners and holding hostages for their relief if they should have been removed up into the interior of the Country.<br /> <br /> It It is to be hoped however that all questions of dispute in regard to Grey Town will beoon be settled because Her Majesty’s government has through Her Majesty’s Minister at Washington proposed to the Government of the United States that an arrangement should be made by which the Sovereignty of Grey Town… should be transferred to the State of Costa Rica… Lord Palmerston desires me to add that there are at present at Washington a plenipotentiaries both from Nicaragua and Costa Rica for the purpose of conducting this negotiation…â€<br /> <br /> 2. Addington G.M. Single Page Letter in Secretarial Hand Warning of Incoming Ships to Cuba Carrying Enslaved Individuals January 24 1852. <br /> <br /> Addington writes to McQuhae about two incoming vessels carrying enslaved Africans passing on information received at Rio De janeiro by another British vessel:<br /> <br /> “I am directed by Earl GraH.M. Minister at Rio reporting that he had recieved information that two Slavers had sailed from Havana to… the coast of Africa… with the intention of returning with Cargoes of slaves which are to be landed at the Entrade de Cuchillo in Cuba.â€<br /> <br /> 3. Seymour G.F. et al. Four Reports Bound Together on Varied Subjects including the Case of the Creole British Fishing Rights in Spanish Waters off of Cuba and Porto Rico and the Case of a Detained British Vessel in Cuba 1852. <br /> <br /> A series of four reports addressed to McQuhae on various subject as follows:<br /> <br /> A. Report dated May 17 1852 from Seymour discussing the case of the Creole detained in 1851:<br /> <br /> “.enclosing copies of a letter from the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs approving of the course I had pursued with regard to the Creole and of a despatch from the Earl of Malmesbury to Her Majesty’s Minister at Madrid relative to the rights of British Subjects to fish on the coast of Cuba…â€<br /> <br /> B. Letter from Augustus Stafford Apriul 23 1852 discussing the Creole mostly discussing the enclosure of varied reports on the subjects but with little specific information. <br /> <br /> C. Addington A.M. April 21 1852 letter discussing the Creole case and the enclosure of documents. <br /> <br /> D. Earl of Malmesbury April 14 1852 letter discussing the Creole case in more detail:<br /> <br /> “ The Right thus claimed rests on this universally admitted precept of international Law “dominium finitur ubi finitur armorum vis†which in modern practice has been construed to mean “about one marine league from the mainland†and H.M.’s Govt are clearly justified in demanding that the Spanish authorities shall be ordered not to meddle or interfere with British fishermen outside that three mile boundary…â€<br /> <br /> 4. Earl of Malmesbury et al. Series of Three Secretarial Copies of Reports Concerning Impending Filibuster Raids on Cuba Giving Instructions for Assisting Spanish Forces. <br /> <br /> A very interesting series of reports detailing the planned response to pending “Piratical Attacks†showing the extent to which British forces were prepared for an American filibuster attack on the island and the degree to which they intended on assisting the Spanish forces. As follows:<br /> <br /> A. Seymour G.F. Secretarial Copy of Letter Written on May 5 1852 from Cumberland at Bermuda relaying the transmission of a full report of instructions to the British forces regarding an impending filibuster raid:<br /> <br /> “ I hereby enclose for your guidance… orders… relative to the assistance which is to be afforded by Her Majesty’s Ships on the application of the Captain General of Cuba in the Transport of Troops in the event of a Piratical attack being again made on that island by which you will govern your conduct…â€<br /> <br /> B. Earl of Malmesbury. Secretarial Copy of a Letter Dated April 10 1862 discussing piratical attacks:<br /> <br /> “.that in the event of a Piratical Attach being made upon that island… HM’s ships might assist in conveying troops to any poiunt of the Coast of Cuba at which the invading Party might effect a landing…â€<br /> <br /> C. Honley P. Secretarial Copy of an Undated Letter c. 1852 regarding piratical attacks:<br /> <br /> “Her Majesty’s ships might assist in coveying Troops to any point off the Coast of Cubat at which the invading Party might effect a landing… you should be instructed until further ORders that if the Captain General of Cuba should require your assistance for the transport of troops in the manner pointed out in your abovementioned dispatch you should comply with that demand…â€<br /> <br /> 5. Crampton Sir John. Copy of a Letter in Secretarial Hand Relaying the Impending Danger of a Pro-Slavery Filibuster Mission from Florida May 17 1852. <br /> <br /> A fascinating letter relaying information received from M. Calderon de la Barca concerning an impending filibuster mission against Cuba led by a Dr. Wren part of an organization called “The Lone Star Association:â€<br /> <br /> “.it would appear that the government of the United States has also received an intimation that something of the sort is on foot for the President informed M. Calderon that orders had already been sent to the U.S. Authorities at the different Ports of the Union to be prepared to take vigorous measures for the repression of any such attempts… an expedition is in fact meditated by certain parties in the South and that it is intended that it should leave some Port of Florida. The real object of this expedition however as as I am told not Cuba… but San Domingo for the purpose of acting as auxiliaries to the Dominicans against the Haytians… it is by no means impossible that its ultimate aim would be Cuba… the persons I am given to understand engaged in the expedition are a Dr. Wren who is president of a society called “The Lone Star State Association…â€<br /> <br /> The letter is worthy of further study - we find references to a Dr. Wren in newspaper articles from the period but were unable to pinpoint his identity or the history of his organization. An article from a Loudon Tennessee newspaper describes Dr. Wren as a “representative of New Orleans societies†and described a meeting in Loudon in 1852 trying to recruit for the overthrow of the Spanish colonial government of Cuba through an invasion. unknown
18673978Macau: April 6 1867. Very good. 6pp. on large folio partially-printed forms printed in two columns completed in manuscript. Old folds with minor losses at a few spots along the horizontal fold. Five hundred and fifty Chinese laborers bound for Cuba aboard the Spanish galley "Cervantes" are listed by name with their age and town or city of origin given. The laborers hail from several different cities in China and their ages range from 18 to 36 with the majority of the men in their 20s. The end of the document is signed and dated on the final page by José de Aguilar the Spanish consul at Macau. The left side of the final page contains two separate lists one with five numbers and the other with four numbers keyed to the manifest. The list of five names has an "x" next to each number perhaps noting that these men did not in fact make the trip to Cuba; each "x" could also signal that these men died during the voyage from Macau to Cuba which was a common-enough occurrence that it is often noted on manifests of this kind.<br /> <br /> Chinese indentured servitude in 19th-century Cuba was an insidious practice tantamount to slavery which flourished in Cuba even after the abolition of the peculiar institution in the British West Indies. With their free source of labor no longer available plantation owners in Cuba looked elsewhere; and they looked east. From around 1848 to the mid-1870s over 100000 Chinese indentured servants made their way to Cuba often sailing to Cuba in large groups. Once they arrived Chinese laborers indentured themselves to Cuban masters for terms of at least five years. The treatment of Asian indentured servants in Cuba varied widely with reports of some particularly ill-treated laborers ending their lives by suicide. "Some contemporaries and later historians.have condemned the servitude of the Asians as a thinly disguised revival of slavery. These critics have pointed to a variety of abuses to which the Asians were subjected both legally - with severe laws governing absenteeism vagrancy and insufficient work - and illegally in the form of harassment by vicious masters. Yet other observers have defended the system as a boon to the Asian workers. Voluntary reindenture at the end of their terms was common among the migrants suggesting that many Asians judged the system to be beneficial to them" - Drescher.<br /> Seymour Drescher & Stanley L. Engerman editors A Historical Guide to World Slavery New York 1998 pp.239-42. April 6 unknown
1864981Havana: Viuda de Barcina y Comp 1864. Good. Twenty-three issues each approximately 32pp. No. 11 with folding chart lacks pp.25-32. No. 13 lacking last few leaves. With title page and half title at start of each volume. Original quarter calf and boards spine gilt. Spine ends chipped and worn some crude glue residue; hinges solid. Boards heavily worn. Light toning and wear to text light scattered worming throughout. A rare run of the first two years of the first Cuban pharmacological magazine and one of the island's earliest medical periodicals. La Emulacion was published from 1863 through 1867 with the present sammelband containing all issues published in 1863 and 1864 a total of twenty-three issues. Their mission statement that heads the first issue here reads in part: "Animados del deseo de ser útiles al pais -- en cuanto nuestras fuerzas lo permitan-- hemos resuelto dar à luz en esta ciudad un periódico que ocupándose preferentemente de todo lo relativo à la Farmacia no descuide por eso la quÃmica é historia natural médicas y la toxicologÃa ciencias de que no pueden prescindir ni los Médicos ni los Farmacéuticos y cuya importancia en el dia pocos podrán desconocer. Procurarémos pues que en nuestro periódico hallen cabida las producciones originales de los que en Cuba cultivan la Farmacia la quÃmica é historia natural médicas y la toxicologÃa; mas no olvidarémos por eso que léjos de nuestro suelo existen los mas célebres y laboriosos de los cultivadores de esas ciencias y que La Emulacion no llenarÃa la mision que nos proponemos si no hiciéramos figurar en ella lo que se dé à luz en Europa y merezca la sancion de las personas ilustradas." The resulting publication contains numerous original articles by Cuban pharmacists doctors and scientists as well as important work published outside of Cuba. Additionally the issues include biographies of significant figures in the field accounts of local scientific societies including the Real Academica de Ciencias de la Habana and publication of new pharmacological formulas discovered in Cuba or "adapted for the needs of the country." As a result the periodical forms an important record of medical and pharmacological developments and thought on the island in the mid-19th century. We locate only one run of this pioneering periodical at the National Library of Cuba with only the present set of issues appearing in auction records. Bound between Volumes I and II is a pamphlet by Fernando Paez "Manual de farmacia practica" Havana 1864 possibly incomplete at 8 pages; no examples of this pamphlet appear in OCLC. Viuda de Barcina y Comp unknown books
1900WRCAM51843Havana 1900. Approximately 520; 600pp. including several folding charts. Over 200 separate imprints. Original half leather and brown cloth boards spine gilt. Corners and edges worn spine rubbed boards scuffed. Initial leaves of first volume torn away but present. Several other leaves chipped and torn throughout. With many official signatures and docketing stamps. Good. Two volumes of orders promulgated in 1889 and 1900 by the American military government of Cuba after the cessation of hostilities in the Spanish-American War. Under the terms of the Teller Amendment to the Congressional Joint Resolution for war with Spain in 1898 the United States denied the intention of using the conflict as a pretext for the annexation of Cuba and promised to leave the island following the termination of the war. The American military therefore oversaw the creation of the new independent Cuban government before departing in 1902. The documents contained in this collection consist of over two hundred orders in both English and Spanish from the Headquarters Division of Cuba that helped to shape the emerging civilian government. They include instructions for the running of elections the organization of the courts and school system the appointments for various government offices provisions for tax regulations and many other critical issues facing Cuba at its independence. The directives cover two periods from January to July in 1899 and from July to September in 1901. Many of the orders are signed in manuscript by the assistants to the military governor for the island Gen. Leonard Wood including assistant adjutant generals J.B. Hickey and L.W.V. Kennon and Brig. Gen. Chief of Staff Adna R. Chaffee. An interesting documentation of the first American occupation of Cuba. hardcover books
