1842 El Periquillo Sarniento Fernandez de Lizardi 4ª Ed Illustrated Rare Tomo I.
 
1842 El Periquillo Sarniento Fernandez de Lizardi 4ª Ed Illustrated Rare
 
Please NOTE that this is Tomo I (Volume 1) only
 
Title & Bibliographic Details
 
EL PERIQUILLO SARNIENTO, POR EL PENSADOR MEXIGANO. CUARTA EDICION CORREGIDA, ILUSTRADA CON NOTAS, Y ADORNADA. CON SESENTA LAMINAS FINAS • TOMO I.
 
Published in México, 1842. First Mexican quarto illustrated edition. Imprint on two title pages: printed for Librería de Galvan (Portal de Agustinos n.º 5 and n.º 3). Printed by V. G. Torres, Calle del Espíritu Santo n.º 9 and J. M. Tara, Calle de la Palma n.º 4.
 
Historical & Bibliographic Context

El Periquillo Sarniento is one of the foundational works of Mexican prose, first published in 1816 under Spanish colonial censorship. By 1842 this novel had become widely influential across Mexico and the Americas, bridging eighteenth-century satire with early nineteenth-century national literary identity. This cuarta edición corregida e ilustrada represents a deliberate expansion with notes and engraved plates, making it both a textual and visual milestone in Mexican book history.
 
About the Author

José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi (1776–1827) was a Mexican writer, journalist, and political thinker, best known for El Periquillo Sarniento, often considered the first novel of the Americas. His incisive social satire and sharp wit influenced Mexican literature and national consciousness.
 
About the Illustrations

This edition is adorned with fine engraved plates. The first title page bears an exquisitely engraved portrait of a man reading, while the second features a unique frontispiece of a card-playing figure surrounded by symbolic objects – a rarity in early Mexican book illustration. Additional nine engraved plates are present, each numbered Lam.2 through Lam.13, facing designated text pages. (Plates Lam.6, Lam.7, Lam.11 are absent.)
 
Binding & Exterior Description

Bound in full calf leather with gilt decoration on spine. The binding is intact, robust and attractive, with wear consistent with age: corner bumping and minor rips, surface marks and scratches, patches of fading, and heavier rubbing on the spine. Please refer to the photos for detailed views.
 
Interior Condition

The text block shows uniform tanning. There is a clear pen inscription on the front pastedown dated 1850: “Ignacio Villegas” (with partial uncertain wording), indicating early provenance, along with additional light contemporary inscriptions. Pages exhibit light foxing and occasional creasing; some edge rips do not affect readability. A notable rip at the plate facing page 141 has been tape-reinforced on the verso. Several gatherings are loosening at the inner margin; a few light gutter cracks are present. Pages 169–176 are missing but the rest of the 189-page text (plus two-page index) remains.
 
Physical Details

• Pagination: Title pages, xxii., and xx. prefaces, 189 pages (with missing leaves), two-page index.
• Dimensions: Approximately 18 × 11.5 × 2 cm (7.1 × 4.5 × 0.8 in).
• Weight: Approx. 245 g (0.54 lb).
 
Rarity & Collector Notes

This 1842 Mexican quarto illustrated edition is very rare on the market. Illustrated Mexican eighteenth/nineteenth-century books seldom survive in complete condition, especially with multiple engraved plates. The missing plates and leaves are not unusual, but they do affect completeness. Still, the presence of original engravings, 
 
contemporary provenance, and binding make this a desirable antiquarian collectible for specialists in Mexican literature and early American novels.
 
Provenance

Contemporary pen inscription “Ignacio Villegas” 1850, likely signifying an early owner. Additional inscriptions on free endpapers add further historical interest – please review photos.