Xavier Lozoya
Plantas y luces en México: La Real Expedición Científica a Nueva España, 1787-1803.
Barcelona: Ediciones del Serbal, 1984. First edition. 8485800915 224 pages.
Volume, measuring approximately 7.5" x 10.25", is bound in wine-colored cloth, with stamped black lettering to spine. Pictorial design depicting plant specimen appears stamped on front cover Foxing appears on top edge of text block. Book otherwise displays light shelfwear. Binding is firm. Top margin of final page exhibits light foxing. Interior is otherwise clean and bright, with pictorial endpapers. Pictorial dust jacket is in near fine condition, with two small blemishes to rear panel.
Following the military victory, the Spanish Crown planned the second phase of the conquest of the Americas: that of its natural products. The first scientific-commercial expedition (1570–1577), led by Francisco Hernández, yielded a vast collection of plants, animals, and manuscript volumes in which the Renaissance scholar recorded his findings. The work ultimately ended up archived in the royal libraries, awaiting better and more enlightened times. That moment arrived two hundred years later with a second exploration of Mexico's natural riches, inspired by Hernández's earlier venture. The team included Spaniards already in the Americas, others who traveled specifically from Spain, and Mexicans who—imbued with the Enlightenment spirit of the era—joined the enterprise after it had already begun. Their objectives included establishing a Botanical Garden and the first Chair of Botany in Mexico—institutions that laid the groundwork for an educational reform of great importance to the country.
It was the longest Spanish scientific expedition in the Americas, featuring an extraordinary itinerary: overland from the port of San Francisco, California, to the city of León, Nicaragua, and by sea, exploring the coasts of present-day Canada (Nootka) as well as the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo.
Two figures defined this odyssey: the Mexican José Mariano Mociño and the Spaniard Martín Sessé—both physicians, young naturalists, and passionate botanists. After countless adventures and vicissitudes that lend their lives the romantic flavor typical of the Age of Enlightenment, Mociño and Sessé became the bearers of the fame—as well as the drama and mystery—surrounding this Ibero-American adventure.
