Notices of Brazil In 1828 And 1829, Walsh 1830. This two-volume set of books is titled “Notices of Brazil In 1828 And 1829” written by the Reverend Robert Walsh and published in two volumes by Frederick Westley and A. H. Davis in London in 1830, they were printed by R. Clay at Bread-Street Hall, Cheapside, and the books are a complete first edition set, according to WorldCat. Reverend R. Walsh (1772 - 1852) was an Irish clergyman, historian, writer and physician. Born in Waterford, Ireland, he graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in 1796 and was ordained in the Church of Ireland, then married, served as Chaplain for the British Embassy in Russia and Constantinople and later was appointed chaplain to the British Embassy in Rio de Janeiro (1828). He spent 200 days in Brazil, traveling through the country to investigate the conditions of the slaves, and he wrote “Notices of Brazil in 1828 and 1829” as part of an effort to abolish the slave trade. He urged courts to be set up wherever there was a British consul, with the right to arrest and try slavers, even if they were not transporting slaves; the owner, master and crew would then be liable to severe punishment as pirates. In this way, he hoped the slave trade would be ended and the natives of Brazil would be protected from slavers. As it turned out, the foreign slave trade was not abolished until 1850, and it took another thirty years to emancipate the slaves. Walsh also wrote a “History of the City of Dublin” (1815), “An Essay on Ancient Coins, Medals, and Gems” (1828), and “Residence at Constantinople during the Greek and Turkish Revolutions” (1836), among others. The first 150 pages of Volume I describe his journey from Portsmouth to Rio de Janeiro via Madeira and the Canaries. Then he gives a summary of Brazil's history from the discovery to the Coronation of Pedro I, and the rest of the first volume is occupied by an in-depth description of Rio. The first 300 pages of the second volume describe his journey to the gold mine district in the country, and the remainder of the book is concerned with the slave situation for the people of Brazil, an appendix reproducing several documents, and even a copy of sheet of music with the Imperial anthem composed by Pedro I. The two books are 3/4 bound, with six gilt-ruled compartments, red and black labels with gilt lettering and elaborate gilt tooling on the spines, marbled boards, marbled endpapers with the bookplate of Willam Nelson on the front paste-downs, both volumes have large fold-out maps before the title page, then the title page, a page with the printer’s information, the Contents pages, and Volume I has 528 pages of text and Volume II is 541 pages long, including six appendices that run from page 531 to 541, followed by one leaf about books published by the author, another which lists the illustrations in both volumes, and Corrigenda - errata - for both volumes at the end. In the first volume the fold-out map is titled “Plan of the City of Rio De Janeiro from the actual survey taken in 1829”, then nine lithographs, and the second volume has a large fold-out map in front titled “Map of Part of the Provinces of Rio De Janeiro and the Minas Geraes (with the Author's Route)” and ten lithographs, with Walsh’s route in red on the fold-out map; the first volume also has a two-page Advertisement about a marriage in the Emperor’s family and eleven pages of Contents (v - xv) before the text, and the second volume has ten pages of Contents (iii - xii). The books are 8vo. and measure 8 7/8 x 5 3/4 in. wide and are in very good condition. The bindings are tight, with clean pages and clean text; the maps have faint browning or toning on them, as do the plates, a couple of pages in the Appendix have toning or offset or brown spots, the sheet music has small black dots at the top of the page, possibly from ink drying when the music notes were copied, and that’s pretty much it. There’s light rubbing on the heel and crowns of the spines, and light rubbing and wear at the tips, and overall, a solid set with more history about the slave trade in the Americas, and the set is rare and hard to find; there are only three listed on the rare book website we use, they range in price from $700 to $1100, and we are starting this lot much lower than that. #207 #1585