The War in Paraguay
London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1869. First Edition.
Title continued: with a Historical Sketch of the Country and its People and Notes Upon the Military Engineering of the War. First edition of this first hand account of 'the War of the Triple Alliance,' the deadliest war in South American history; from the perspecitve of an English railroad civil engineer who happened to be in Paraguay and in close proximity to its President before, during, and in the immediate aftermath of the war (after López had been killed in battle). With a frontispiece and facsimile signature of Francisco Solano López and with eight color-plate maps.
Bound in contemporary half leather over marbled boards with four gently raised bands on the spine and a red label with gilding. The leather is worn, frayed, and rubbed. The marbled paper is scuffed with a few creases and losses at the corners. The book is solidly bound and square. The interior is toned with some spotting but nominal to no text impacts. The paltes at the rear are vibrant with minor spotting and no tears - one of the fold out maps has a small creased corner to the page but not impacting the map. The top one inch of the title page was trimmed, there is also an aged siganture and stamp from a former owner on the title page - no other inscriptions or underlining. Overall a worn, but solid and very good copy of a very scarce first edition and primary resource.
George Thompson remained enamoured with Paraguay after the devistation of the war and quickly returned after finishing this book. Upon his return, he married and had three children before dying in 1876.
Francisco Solano López remains a popular and controversial figure in South American history and his legacy has gone through multiple iterations between hero and villain.
Pages: (10) 347 (8 plates) Dimensions: 7(5/8) x 5 x 1(3/8)
Price: $3,250.00