SAGRA, Ramón de la (1798-1871). Historia Fiscia, Politica y natural la Isla de Cuba. Paris: Arthus Bertrand, 1853.

Volume 5 only, folio (419 x 279 mm). 5 hand-colored engravings. (Some spotting to plates mostly in margins.) Modern morocco-backed boards; original front wrapper bound in.

FIRST EDITION, IN SPANISH, OF THE FISH SECTION OF ONE OF THE RAREST AND MOST DESIREABLE WORKS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF CUBA, published in 12 volumes (later an index was published as volume 13) between 1838 and 1857. Although La Sagra had been commissioned by the Spanish government to provide 300 copies of his work, he encountered huge difficulties in making them up from the 190 parts issued over a period of twenty years. As he said in 1861: "Those who had taken subscriptions in the Island grew weary of waiting for the end of such a protracted, slow, and irregular process of publication. And of the copies I had reserved for myself, only very few could be completed...a lot were lost in warehouses...during the long years required to finish the publication" (Ripoll, p. 422). Palau 284796; Sabin 74921; Anker 383 (French edition); Nissen ZBI 3547 (French edition); IVB 697; BBI 1713; Ronsil 2671 (French edition); Stafleu & Cowan 10000; Wood p. 547.