First and only edition of a travelogue by Mexican author and philanthropist Isabel Pesado de Mier (1832-1913), detailing her many travels from Mexico to Europe, Canada and the United States.
Isabel visited Spain, Italy, Prague, Budapest, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Germany Switzerland, England, The Netherlands, and France. And in the US she called, amongst others, at New York, Boston, and Niagara Falls. She comments on local customs (including bullfighting), art, architecture, cathedrals, etc. and her text includes several poems.
Isabel was born into a prominent Mexican family and was married to diplomat and banker Antonio de Mier y Celis (1834-1899). In 1885 the couple relocated to Paris, where they moved in high society. Her will stated that her capital must be used for philanthropy, which resulted in the establishment of the Mexican non-profit organisation Fundación Mier Y Pesado.
This copy has a manuscript dedication by Isabel to "Señora Condesa Max[ence] de Polignac", dated "Paris Maya. 1910." This "Condesa" was Susana de la Torre y Mier (1858-1913), born in Mexico City and married to Count Maxence de Polignac (1856-1936), director of the famous Pommery Champagne house.
The book was printed for private circulation only ("edición particular"); Isabel seems to have distributed copies, with hand-written dedications, among friends and libraries. It's very rare on the market.
Dedication copy by Mexican woman traveller Isabel Pesado de Mier
Isabel Pesado de Mier. Apuntes de viaje de México a Europa en los años 1870-1871 y 1872.
Paris, Garnier, 1910.