Humboldt, Baron Alexander von; Selections from the Works of the Baron de Humboldt, Relating to the Climate, Inhabitants, Productions and Mines of Mexico. 1824

Humboldt, Baron Alexander von; Selections from the Works of the Baron de Humboldt, Relating to the Climate, Inhabitants, Productions and Mines of Mexico. With Notes by John Taylor, Esq. Treasurer of the Geol. Soc…London, 1824. Small quarto, pp. xxxiii, 1 page errata, 4, 310, large folded map (Map of the Mining Districts of Mexico), frontispiece “View of Mines…”.

The work is complete and in the original blue-gray boards with cloth spine and paper title label. The binding is clean and tight, minor restoration to corners, text is untrimmed, small worm hole to very outer margin of pages. The map is clean and bright. Owner’s catalogue reference number on upper, inner edge of end sheet. An exceptionally clean copy with the very rare map present.


Alexander von Humboldt (1769 – 1859) was a German naturalist and explorer. Humboldt's quantitative work on botanical geography was the foundation of the field of biogeography. He traveled in Central and South America between 1799-1804 and wrote extensively on natural history, geology, meteorology, and physical geography. He proved that the Amazon and Orinoco river systems are connected, and ascended to 5,877 m (19,280 ft) in the Andes, the highest ascent ever made at that time, researching the relation of temperature and altitude.
Humboldt spent the next 20 years in Paris writing and publishing his results in several works over 21 years. He was one of the first to propose that the lands of South America and Africa bordering the Atlantic Ocean were once joined. In the 1824 volume on the mines of Mexico, the mining engineer, John Taylor, brings together translations of works by Humboldt that focus on mining operations and mineral resources known in Mexico. The work is rare with the important map present.