John Francis Bacon - Six years in Biscay. 1831-1837 - 1838

John Francis Bacon: Six years in Biscay: comprising a personal narrative of the sieges of Bilbao, in June 1835, and Oct. to Dec., 1836, and of the principal events which occurred in that city and the Basque provinces, during the years 1830 to 1837 - Published by London. Smith , Elder & Co. 1838

Published in 1838, with 4 engravings.

Without binding, map missing, part of the book has wormhole in the bottom, margin partly affecting 2 engravings (no text loss)
But still a reasonably good copy of a remarkable book.

Text in English. First Edition, viii,478,[ii]pages.,& appendix, illustrated with 4 folding plate views,( lacks the folding map, no covers, block solid & compact )

Very rare, WorldCat locates 2 copies, both in Germany. John Francis Bacon was a British consul in Bilbao during the years 1830 to 1837, a period partly covered by the First Carlist War (1833-1839). He was the author of the book 'History of the Revolution of the Basque Provinces and Navarra'. 1833-1837, in which his experience in this period is narrated. He is also the author of the book entitled 'Six years in Biscay' (1831-1837), where he narrates the sites of Bilbao, during the First Carlist War. The book, in its English edition, contains a plan ( lacks in this copy) and four engravings of the town of Bilbao.


The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833 to 1840, the first of three Carlist Wars. It was fought between two factions over the succession to the throne and the nature of the Spanish monarchy: the conservative supporters of the late king's brother, Carlos de Borb¢n (or Carlos V), became known as Carlists (carlistas), while the progressive supporters of the regent, Maria Christina, acting for Isabella II of Spain, were called Liberals (liberales), cristinos or isabelinos. Aside from being a war of succession about the question who the rightful successor to king Ferdinand VII of Spain was, the Carlists' goal was the return to an absolute monarchy, while the Liberals sought to defend the constitutional monarchy. Portugal, France and the United Kingdom supported the regency, and sent volunteer and even regular forces to confront the Carlist army. (Wiki).