Via-Crucis en verso. Por J. M. B.
Durango: Impreso por Casimiro Briones, 1841. First edition. Bound in later sewn hard-paper wrappers. [16] p. Some wear, creasing, and edge losses to the wrappers; stitching exposed in places. Internally worn and toned, with occasional chipping, staining, small tears, and corner losses, but generally sound. Contemporary and later manuscript annotations and devotional markings throughout. A well-used but complete survival.
Apparently unrecorded 1841 Durango devotional imprint from one of the earliest known provincial presses in northern Mexico.
Via-Crucis, a small-format provincial Mexican devotional booklet and apparently unrecorded survival of early printing from Durango, produced by the virtually undocumented printer Casimiro Briones. No institutional records located for this imprint, and no Briones imprints appear to be recorded in WorldCat. Secondary sources on nineteenth-century Durango printing briefly mention a “Fernando Briones” among the city’s early presses before the rise of the better-known Gómez workshops. Whether this refers to an unrelated printer of the same surname, a member of the same family operating the workshop at a different period, or simply a typographical or bibliographical confusion in the secondary sources remains unclear.
Printing in Durango developed relatively late and under difficult regional conditions. Although presses appeared in the state by the 1820s, typographic production remained limited for decades after Mexican independence due to political instability, weak infrastructure, and the geographical isolation of northern Mexico. Unlike larger Mexican centers such as Puebla or Mexico City, Durango lacked a strong tradition of engraving and lithographic production, and its presses operated on a comparatively small scale. Early provincial printing in the region appears to have focused largely on ephemeral material — newspapers, governmental notices, school texts, and devotional pamphlets intended for practical use rather than preservation. Surviving examples from this early phase are consequently scarce. Modern studies further note that more developed graphic and lithographic production only became established later in the nineteenth century with the rise of the Gómez family workshops, which came to dominate Durango printing. In this context, this 1841 devotional imprint constitutes rare evidence for the poorly documented first generation of printers active in Durango during the early republican period.
This small verse Via Crucis was intended for practical devotional use. Cheap religious pamphlets of this kind were typically heavily handled and rarely preserved. The present copy retains contemporary annotations and clear signs of devotional use, enhancing its historical interest as both an early provincial Durango imprint and a document of everyday religious practice in nineteenth-century northern Mexico.
References: Ceceñas González, J. M. (2025). La imprenta de la familia Gómez en Durango: Sesenta años de esfuerzo, tinta y papel. Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango.
.
Price: €3,000.00