Occasional List 15 SPAIN & THE SPANISH EMPIRE JUDITH HODGSON 11 Stanwick Road London W14 8TL Tel.: 44 (0) 20 7603 7414 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.judithhodgson.com No. 48 Vergara y Alba List 15 1. ASTARLOA y AGUIRRE, Pablo Pedro: Apología de la lengua bascongada, ó ensayo crítico filosófico de su perfeccion y antigüedad so- bre todas las que se conocen: en respuesta á los reparos propuestos en el Diccionario geográfico histórico de España, tomo segundo, palabra Naba- rra. Small 4to. XXIV, 452 pp. Contemporary calf (extremities worn). Madrid, Geronimo Ortega, 1803. £ 100. Palau 18774. Salvá 2200, “escaso.” The author mounts a spirited defence of the Basque language to contest the writings of Joaquin Tra- ggia’s Breve noticia de Navarra, inserta en el Diccionario histórico geográfico de España de la Real Academia de la Historia. “The late eighteenth and early nineteenth century witnessed a flowering of interest in the Basque language within the Basque County . The author was primarily concerned to demonstrate that Basque had anciently been the language of all Spain, and that it best preserved the ‘perfect’ state of the ancestral human language. Astarloa, a native of Durango in Bizkaia, was not entirely devoid of analytical abilities . .” (R.L. Trask, The history of Basque. London 1997, p. 52). Andrew Dalby (Dictionary of Languages, pp. 76-7) notes that “Basque whalers and cod fishermen regularly spent their summers around the mouth of the St Lawrence river from the 16th century onwards. The French explo- rer, Jacques Cartier, found in 1542 that the Amerindians of the St Lawrence shores could speak a kind of Basque . Having learnt it in contact with the early Basque mariners, the Indians naturally used it in speaking to the French and English explorers who came along later.” Some pencil markings. Short tear repaired in upper margin of p. 27/28. 2. ALMEIDA, Teodoro de: El hombre feliz, independiente del mundo, y de la fortuna; ó Ar- te de vivir contento en qualquier trabajos de la vida: obra escrita en portugues, retocada, añadida, é ilustrada con especiales notas por . Traducida, corregida, y exornada, con un compendio histori- co, un mapa geografico y otras notas Por el Doctor D. Benito Estaun de Riol, presbítero. Quinta impresión. Tomos I & II. 8vo. I: XLVIII, 56, 304 pp., with engraved half title p. & 8 engraved plates; II: 314 pp. (with errors in pagination), with 9 engraved plates. Madrid, Imprenta Real, 1787. Together with: [Idem]: El hombre feliz, independiente del mundo, y de la fortuna; ó Arte de vivir contento en qualesquier trabajos de la vida: obra escrita en portugues, segunda edición, corregida y aumentada con Notas y Estampas por . Traducida y exornada, Con un compendio histórico, un mapa geográfico, otras Notas y Estampas Por el Doctor D. Benito Estaun de Riol, presbítero. Sexta impresión. Tomo III. 336 pp., with 8 engraved plates & 1 double page map of Hungary. Contem- - 2 - porary calf (not uniformly bound). Madrid, Imprenta Real, 1788. £ 420. Palau 7973 “su éxito, tanto en Portugal como en España, fué muy lisonjero.” Aguilar Piñal III, 1584. (Cf. Innocêncio VII, 304, “maior acolhimento obteve ainda en Hespanha” & Pinto de Mattos pp. 11-12, “obra estimada.”) The work, which first appeared in Portuguese in 1779 as O Feliz independente do mundo e da fortuna, tells of the adventures, part fact, part mythical, of the early 13th century Polish ruler, Wladyslaw III, nicknamed Spindleshanks. Written in the style of Fénelon’s Télémaque, it enjoyed huge success in 18th cen- tury Spain and Portugal. Wladyslaw has been described as a “ruler of talent and energy, a just and capable administrator” (Cambridge History of Poland to 1696, p. 89), and though literary critics have been less than kind about Teodoro de Almeida’s literary style, the author makes interesting and precise scientific and astronomical observations throughout his novel (see Hernani Cidade, Lições de Cultura e Literatura Portuguesa, vol. II, pp. 228 - 331). The Polish connection is perhaps not surprising; in 1729 the Emperor Charles VI of Austria proposed D. Manuel de Bragança, brother of D. João V, as a candi- date to occupy the throne of Poland, though later support for him was withdrawn (see Ursula Kosińska, “Could a Portuguese Prince become King of Po- land? The candidacy of Don Manuel de Bragança for the Polish throne in the years 1729-33” in The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol.94, No. 3, July 2016). Vols. I & II are the fifth printing, and Vol. III the sixth. The attractive plates were drawn by Manuel de la Cruz, Maella and D. Velezquez, and en- graved by J. Ballester, Simon Brieva, Muntaner, Fabregas, M.S. Carmona, José Assensio, Miguel Gamborino, Francisco Marti and J. de la Cruz. Ownership signature on front free end-paper & deleted ownership name on half- title of Vol. III. Front free end-paper spotted, occasional spotting & discolouration throughout Vols. I & III, very occasional spotting in Vol. II, tear repaired in upper margin of Vol. III, p. 59/60 & 171/172. 3. AROLAS, Juan: Poesías. 8vo. XIX, 494 pp. Contemporary calf, spine gilt. Barcelona, Impr. del Constitucional, 1842. £ 30. Palau 17228. "Arolas impresses first and foremost by his brilliance . What may at time appear to be ornateness is more often the sheer luxuriance of a fertile and sometimes voluptuous imagination," (Peers, History of the Romantic Movement in Spain, II, 209). 4. BEGAS, José Antonio D. y: Nuevo estilo y formulario de escribir cartas misivas y responder á ellas en todos géneros de corresponden- cia: reformado segun el estilo moderno y añadida en esta última edición. Small 8vo. (4) ff., 342 pp. Near contemporary vellum. Barcelona, Por Juan Francisco Piferrer, 1835. £ 80. This edition not in Palau or Salvá. This popular work was frequently reprinted. It outlines the frequency of the postal system in Spain, detailing the time taken for correspondence to arrive in different cities worldwide, and it gives guidance on such topics as communicating births, deaths, requesting matrimony, safe arrivals at destinations, and also commercial matters, establishing a business, commercial dealings, letters of exchange, etc., and ends with more intimate correspondence between - 3 - ladies and gentlemen. Front & back free endpapers shaved at outer margin, otherwise a good copy. 5. [BELMONTE y BERMÚDEZ, Luis de]: Comedia Famosa. El Diablo Predicador, y Mayor Contrario Amigo. De un Ingenio de esta Corte. Small 4to. (18) ff. Wrappers. Barcelona, Imprenta de Carlos Sapera, 1764. At head of f. (1) recto: Num. 111. £ 180. This edition not in Palau. Not in Catálogo de comedias sueltas conservados en la Biblioteca de la Real Academia Española, Bergman & Szmuk, A catalogue of Comedias Sueltas in the New York Public Library, Comedias sueltas in Cambridge University Library : a descriptive catalogue , ed. A. J. C. Bainton, Sullivan & Bershas, Comedias Sueltas, González Cañal, Catálogo de comedias sueltas del Fondo Entrambasaguas, Catálogo de comedias sueltas del Museo Nacional del Teatro de Almagro, Boyer, The Te- xan collection of comedias sueltas. Ticknor, History of Spanish literature, II, p. 339-341. “Belmonte is best remembered for a good religious drama which he probably wrote, El Diablo predicador, in which Lucifer plays an unusual role. This play is a recasting of an earlier one, entitled Fray Diablo, which has been attributed to Lope” (Edward M. Wilson & Duncan Moir, The Golden Age: drama 1492-1700, p. 80). 6. [BLASCHE, Bernhard Heinrich]: Arte de trabajar en carton to- da clase de obras de utilidad y recreo. Small 8vo. 103 pp., (1) f., with 8 folding plates showing pasteboard models. Original green printed wrap- pers (stained and worn). Barcelona, Imprenta de José Torner, 1829. £ 380. Palau 17767. First edition in Spanish of this scarce and attractive book for children, which gives instructions for modelling in pasteboard, with 8 explanatory plates. It is a translation of The art of working in pasteboard (1827) , with a slightly different preface, which was in turn taken from the German origi- nal, Der Papparbeiter. The work was reprinted in Spain in 1831 and 1838. 7. [BULWER LYTTON, Edward]: Leila; or, The Siege of Grana- da: and Calderon, the Courtier. By the author of “Eugene Aram,” “Rienzi,” &c. Illustrated with splendid engravings from Drawings by the most eminent artists . 8vo. Title p., xi, 400 pp. With frontispiece, 2nd engraved title p. & 13 plates. Original cloth (neatly rebacked, spine laid down). London, Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, 1838. £ 50. - 4 - Palau 36967. First edition. By 1834, barely ten years after Bulwer the undergraduate was awarded the chancellor's medal for English verse at Cambridge, Bulwer the literary lion and best-seller was hailed by the American Quarterly Review as ‘without doubt, the most popular writer now living.’ In his preface to the less flamboyant edition of 1860 the author, notoriously thin-skinned, attributed the original edition’s lack of popularity to prejudice against literary works believed to be prized for their illustrations. A Spanish translation appeared in 1845, translated by Sra. D***, and another in 1860. 8. CALDERÓN de la BARCA, Pedro: Comedia famosa. El Principe Constante. Small 4to. (16) ff. Later calf (front cover slightly rub- bed). (Caption title, Num. 12 at head of title p.) Barcelona, Por Francisco Suriá y Burgada, n.d. £ 350. This edition not in Palau, or Bergman & Szmuk, A catalogue of Comedias Sueltas in the New York Public Library or Comedias sueltas in Cambridge University Library : a descriptive catalogue , ed. A. J. C. Bainton or Catálogo de comedias sueltas del Museo Nacional del Teatro de Almagro. Menéndez y Pelayo considered this to be one of the playwright’s finest works and of those written for the Spanish theatre (Calderón y su teatro [Madrid 1884], p. 217). It was probably written in late 1628 / 1629.