May 30, 1827. · Chuquisaca
by [Bolivia]
Chuquisaca: Imprenta Boliviana, May 30, 1827.. [2],33pp. In Spanish. Pages 17 and 21 reversed due to printer's error. Gathered signatures, stitched. Clerical ink inscription ("763 G.R.M.") in inner margin of titlepage. Minor light staining. Very good. Untrimmed. In a half morocco box. The extremely rare second and last official edition of Bolivia's first constitution, after the slightly less rare first edition of 1826. In 1825, Upper Peru became the final South American republic to secure its independence from Spain under the leadership of Simón Bolívar, renaming itself Bolivia in his honor. Bolívar himself drafted this first constitution of the country in 1825 and handed power to Gen. Antonio José de Sucre as president for life. The constitution was accepted by the second Bolivian congress in 1826, and Sucre accepted his appointment, but only for two years, with the provision that two thousand Columbian troops should remain with him in La Paz. In late 1827, after repeated uprisings, Sucre and his army were driven from the capital, and the constitution was changed the following year. This second edition, which bears a serious printer's error in the section on the president, is especially scarce and not recorded by Palau. OCLC records the imprint but locates no copies. RENÉ-MORENO, BIBLIOTECA BOLIVIANA 763. (Inventory #: WRCAM39275)