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BURTON, Richard Francis.
Letters from the battle-fields of Paraguay.
Tinsley, London 1870. First edition. 8vo., with half-title and additional title-page, [xx], 491pp., frontispiece, folding map, title-page vignette, later blue half morocco gilt for H. Sotheran, Strand (pre 1930), marbled sides and edges, armorial bookplate, an excellent copy.
Burton had temporarily resigned from the consular service in Brazil on account of ill-health. Rather than return directly to London he went to the River Plate to report on the long, bloody boundary war which pitted Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay (supported by Britain) against Paraguay (supported by the United States). Opinions on Burton's reports is divided, some say that they are some of the best examples of 19th-century war reporting, others say that they were almost entirely second-hand. Penzer 84; Casada 45.
Price: £ 1500
US Dollar Price: $ 2980
Stock Number: 74646