MEXICO IN 1827 IN 2 VOLUMES: VOL. 1 AND VOL. 2.; by H.G. Ward, Esq. His Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires in that Country during the Years 1825, 1826, and Part of 1827
London: Henry Colburn, 1828. plus 13 plates (5 of which are folded (10 aquatints, 1 with hand coloring, 3 lithographs), 5 wood-engraved text illustrations), tbls., plus 2 folded engraved maps, the second copy of the folding map of Mexico is laid into this copy (this has marginal slight tears), Two volumes, three-quarters dark brown calf of the period, spines textured in blind, marbled sides. (marginal light foxing on the plates, not on the map). Item #115618
First edition. Henry Ward was the British chargé d'affaires to Mexico in the three years preceding publication. The fine map in the first volume is an important one, including Texas; this was engraved by S. Hall. Plates after original artwork by Lady Emily Elizabeth Swinburne Ward, who married Sir Henry George Ward on 8 April 1824 while he was between diplomatic appointments to Mexico. After he was made chargé d’affaires, they sailed together for Mexico on 8 January 1825 aboard HMS Egeria. Souces: DNB; Sabin 101303; Abbey, Travel, 668; Hill, p. 319.
“The subject [the American Revolution] is one of deep, and universal, interest, for it is upon the duration of the new order of things that the prospects of the rising States depend. The Revolution has affected not only their political, but their commercial, relations with the rest of the world; its influence has extended in their agriculture, and mines so both of which, after threatening them with total annihilation, it has given a fresh impulse, and opened a new, and more extensive field. I have endeavored to trace their operations in Mexico upon each branch of the great interests of the State, but most particularly upon the Mines; the importance of which, both to New Spain and to Europe, it has been one of my principal objects to develope.” –Page iii
Official Mexico viewed the able and enthusiastic emissary, minister plenipotentiary for a treaty of amity and commerce, as a symbol of Britain's definitive recognition of Mexican independence. The young minister shared his treaty-making powers with the more experienced and older James Morier, already in Mexico. Ward, only twenty-eight years old in 1825, had served as attaché to the British legation at Stockholm from 1816 to 1818, spent a year at The Hague and four years in Madrid, and was appointed to the Mexican commission surveying political conditions in 1823-1824.' On his second visit and after concluding the treaty, Ward would act as Britain's first chargé d'affaires in Mexico. His most important role, however, was one over-looked by historians-that of mining publicist. From his pen flowed a steady stream of facts, figures, and foreign reports which piqued the already overwrought imagination of his countrymen, disseminated information about the republic, and contributed substantially to the avalanche of British investment and influence pouring into Mexico. Source: N. Ray Gilmore, "Henry George Ward, British Publicist for Mexican Mines." Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Feb., 1963), pp. 35-47. [JSTOR.ORG]
Ward, Henry George (Sir), 1797—1860.
Sir Henry George Ward was the only son of Robert Plumer Ward (1865-1846; ODNB), novelist and politician, and Catherine Julia Ward, Née Maling. He was educated at Harrow School, and learned languages abroad. He was appointed attaché to Sweden in 1816, The Hague in 1818, and Spain in 1819. He became joint commissioner in Mexico from 1823 to 1824, and chargé d’affaires, 1825-27. Between his Mexican appointments, Ward returned to England where, on 8 April 1824, he married Emily Elizabeth Swinburne (1798-1882). They sailed for Mexico in January 1825 and remained there until 1827. Ward's account, Mexico in 1827, appeared in 1828. He contributed letterpress, as well, to a collection of Emily Ward’s sketches, Six Views of the Most Important Towns, and Mining Districts … of Mexico (1829). Ward began his parliamentary career in 1833 as a Liberal, and furthered his agenda as political editor of the Weekly Chronicle from 1836. He helped found the Colonial Society in 1837 and, after running into debts and out of options for paying them, accepted the post of lord high commissioner in the Ionian Islands from 1849. His suppression of nationalist movements there helped fuel the nationalist sentiment that led to the union of the islands to Greece, but in other ways he was an able administrator. In 1855 he became governor of Ceylon, and in 1860 governor of Madras. Ward died at Madras on 2 August 1860 after contracting cholera. He was survived by Emily Ward and ten children. Sources: Seymour, A. A. D. 'Ward, Sir Henry George (1797–1860), politician and colonial governor'. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 3 Jan. 2008. Oxford University Press. Web. 6 Mar. 2018.
The only studies published to date about his role in Mexico are: Gilmore, N. Ray, ‘Henry George Ward, British Publicist of Mexican Mines’, Pacific Historical Review 32: 1(Feb. 1963), SEE JSTOR
See:
DNB; Sabin 101303; Abbey, Travel, 668; Hill, p. 319.
N. Ray Gilmore, "Henry George Ward, British Publicist for Mexican Mines." Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Feb., 1963), pp. 35-47.
Seymour, A. A. D. 'Ward, Sir Henry George (1797–1860), politician and colonial governor'. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 3 Jan. 2008. Oxford University Press. Web. 6 Mar. 2018
CONTENTS: V. 1. Preface -- The First volume, Book I. -- Boundaries [etc.] -- Population -- Productions -- Spanish colonial system -- Book II. [The wars of independence] -- Book III. Government, Navy and army, Religion, Revenue, Trade. Appendix of documents 1809-21. Particulars of a journey from Altamira to Catorce, by Robert Phillips. Account of the province of Texas, by General Wavel. Notes on the state of Sonora and Cinaloa, by Colonel Bourne. -- V. 2. -- The Second volume, Book IV. The mines of Mexico -- Book V-VI. Personal narrative.
Price: $1,800.00