[Berlin ou Hambourg], Storch & Kramer pour May y Cia, n.d. [c. 1851].
Small oblong folio [242 x 342 mm] with 1 chromolithographed illustrated title, 27 chromolithographs, 1 folding map of the island and 1 folding map of Havana (tiny tear in the white margin). Bound in green velvet of the editor, wide gilt frame around the covers with gilt title and letters in the center, gilt edges. Contemporary binding.
One of two pirated editions printed in Germany circa 1850’s of one of the first testimonies of the daily life in Cuba in the 19th century.
Palau 5421; Sabin 17748 (for the other pirated edition, illustrated with 26 chromolithographies).
The 27 chromolithographs of this album are inspired by the lithographs of Fréderic Mialhe illustrating his travels to Cuba in 1847-1848 (Viaje Pintoresco al Rededor de la isla de Cuba. Havana, 1847-1848).
Of great variety, they represent views of Havana, its ports and its coasts (11 plates), but mostly scenes of the daily life, such as a cock fight or a bullfight for example.
The 27 views are the following: 1. Morro y entrada puerto de La Habana ; 2.Vista de La Habana ; 3. Vista de La Habana, parte de Estramuros ; 4-6. Habana ; 7. Plaza de armas ; 8. Puertas de Monserrate ; 9. Teatro de Tacon y parte del paseo de Isabel II ; 10. Fuente de la India en el paseo de Isabel II ; 11. Alameda de Paula ; 12. El quitrin ; 13. El panadero y el malojero ; 14. El casero ; 15. Valla de gallos; 16. Dia de reyes ; 17. El zapateado ; 18. Matanzas; 19. Morro y entrada del puerto de Santiago de Cuba; 20. Vista genl. de la ciudad y montanas de Baracoa; 21. Cercanias de Baracoa ; 22. Vista de la iglesia mayor y de la ermita del buen viaje ; 23. Vivienda de los pescadores de esponjas (sponge fishermen); 24. Trinidad ; 25. Corrida de toros (bullfight) ; 26. Vista de una casa de Calderas ; 27. Vista de una vega de tabaco (view of a tobacco plantation vue).
Every plate is made in chromolithography and comes with a caption in Spanish. The plates of the other pirated edition of this album, also printed in Germany in the same period, are limited to 26 plates, with less details in the execution and aren’t in chromolithography.
This precious album is completed by a detailed map of the island of Cuba and a precise map of the city of Havana, with all the names of the streets and even the numbers of the houses.
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