Mansilla, Lucio. UNA EXCURSION A LOS INDIOS RANQUELES. Buenos Aires: Litografia y Fundicion de Tipos, 1870. 8vo, 2 vols. viii, 347, [1], vi (index), [1, errata]; 188, [2, blank], 185-428, x (index and errata) pp. Plus 5 plates (woodcut portraits, including the author, natives, etc.) and a folding map at end of second volume. Bound in 1/4 morocco, spines gilt. ******* First edition of this account of the Ranquels, an indigenous tribe from the northern part of La Pampa Province, in Argentina. Quite scarce; Worldcat locates only 2 printed copies (one in Spain, the other in Chile.)From the University of Texas Press remarks on their English edition: "Lucio Mansilla’s Una excursión a los indios ranqueles, published in Argentina in 1870, is one of very few works in American letters that presents a vivid, firsthand account of a noncombative encounter between Native American and European civilizations... Long noted for its humor, adventurousness, and narrative ingenuity, the book offers penetrating insights into fundamental issues of 'civilization and barbarism,' immigration, ethnic and racial diversity, and land ownership and tenancy. Mansilla alone among his contemporaries espoused open dialogue as the best approach to the 'Indian problem.' Although the peace accord he sought to enact with the Ranquels was summarily disregarded by the Argentine government, which slowly gravitated towards a policy of ethnic cleansing and expropriation of Indian lands, the Expedition does narrate a rehearsal for a reconciliation that in the end never took place."

Map with 2" tear near stub, some very minor instances of foxing or similar very minor blemished, mostly clean. Binding with some light rubbing/scuffing to extremities. A nice set overall.