Nahuatl grammar, second edition
Oracio Carochi, 1759
CAROCHI, Oracio (1586-1666). Compendio del arte de la lengua Mexicana. Mexico City: Bibliotheca Mexicana, 1759.

Second edition of the finest early Nahuatl grammar. Carochi, an Italian Jesuit, came to Mexico to study its indigenous languages and became a friend of Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, founder of the first public library in the New World, the Biblioteca Palafoxiana. His 1645 grammar was the first to discuss vowel length in Nahuatl, and is here reprinted edited by Ignacio Paredes. Sabin 10954.

Quarto (196 x 136mm). Engraved frontispiece, title and dedication with ornamental borders (neatly repaired marginal wormholes, some very light dampstaining). 19th-century navy morocco by Arias (some wear at spine ends). Provenance: Francesco Benites de Haniza (early signature) – Jose Luis Molinari (bookplate) – Joaquin Cortina Goribar (1906-1991, Mexican historian; bookplate).