Carabajal, the Jew. A Legend of Monterrey, Mexico
Vineland, NJ: [Printed by Cloyd and Smith], 1894. First edition. Softcover. Octavo. 27pp. Tan paper wrappers, with illustrated woodcut border in black and black lettering on the front cover. Text throughout printed in a two-column format.
This self-published literary work recounts the notorious life of Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva (aka Carabajal, 1537-1591) the noted Spanish conquistador and founder of province of Nuevo León (now in Northen Mexico). Carvajal, at one time a powerful figure in the Spanish empire, would later run afoul of the Spanish authorities and the Inquisition, do to his activities as a slave trader and the concealment of crypto-Jewish activities in his family.
Wrappers with light smudges and stains. Interior clean and book block tight. Wrappers in very good-, interior in near fine condition overall. vg- to near fine. Item #54771
Bibliographic reference: Singerman 4717
Charles K. Landis (1833-1900) was a noted real estate developer in New Jersey was the founder of a number of cities and towns in the state, most notably Vineland, in 1861. An eccentric, Landis initiated communities based on his utopian agricultural ideals and progressive philosophies such as temperance. Later, in 1875, he was embroiled in a legal trial over his murder of the Vineland Independent's editor Uri Carruth, in which his legal team successfully plead "temporary insanity", and he was acquitted. He was also a was an amateur novelist, as evident by this work, as well as a surprising early work of science-fiction "A Trip to Mars, as described by an Eye Witness", originally written ca. 1876, but unpublished until 2015. This early work of sci-fi and space travel adventure, may have been the first work written where the primary focus was a Journey to the planet Mars.
Price: $950.00