(Texas) Espinosa, Isidro Felix de. El Peregrino Septentrional Atlante: Delineado en la Vida del Venerable Padre F. Antonio Margil de Jesus, .... Mexico: Por Joseph Bernardo de Hogal, 1737. FIRST EDITION. 8vo - 8" x 5-7/8". Contemporary limp vellum with ties; title and decoration in manuscript to spine. Text-block edges tinted red. Plain endpapers with a small loss to lower fore edge corner of FFE; morocco bookplate of John Talbot Gernon to front pastedown. [38], 456, [4] pp., plus [1] leaf of plates; title printed in red and black within an ornamental border, woodcut dedication to St. Antonio de Padua, woodcut head- and tail-pieces, text in two columns within a single line border.
A RARE, UNCENSORED COPY OF THE FIRST EDITION OF ONE OF THE "FIFTY TEXAS RARITIES;" pages 426-427 in most copies have been defaced by the Inquisition because of references to the apocalyptic angel Uriel; illustrated with a copperplate engraving of Father Margil and the Native Americans; internally fine with the exception of a small loss to the lower fore edge corner of pp. 71-72.
Father Margil, a Franciscan missionary in Mexico and Guatemala, spent three years (1716-1719) in Texas working with the Native Americans and establishing missions in the northeast part of that territory. Chapters 22-24 of the book describe the founding of these missions in Texas. Father Espinosa accompanied Father Margil on the Texas journey so parts of this narrative were based on his first-hand observations. The condition of the book is FINE. A RARE, UNCENSORED COPY. # 001251
Fifty Texas Rarities 5; Graff 1260; Howes E-184; Jenkins, Basic Texas Books 59A; Wagner, Spanish Southwest 102
Provenance: The library of Dr. John Talbot Gernon