SPECULUM CONIUGIORUM AEDITUM PER R.P.F. ILLEPHONSUM A VERACRUCE...EXCUSSUM OPUS MEXICI IN AEDIBUS IANNIS PAULI BRISSENSIS....
Veracruz, Alonso de la:
Mexico: Juan Pablos, 1556 (but actually 1550) 686pp. Large woodcut on titlepage. Small quarto. Contemporary limp vellum, leather ties. Inch- long tear to fore edge of front cover. Contemporary notation on flyleaf. Minor foxing. Minor dampstaining along top edge. Very good. Printed by Juan Pablos, the first printer in the New World, this is an outstanding example of one of the first complete, major books published in the Western Hemisphere. The book is justly famous on a number of counts. First, it is the earliest complete book from a New World press that might be obtainable at this point. Second, in sheer size, it is the longest workand the most ambitious piece of printing done in the New World to that time. Thirdly, it is the first use of italic types in America. These types were cut and cast in Pablos' shop by Antonio de Espinosa. Fourth, the work can lay claim to being the first American book of interest to women, since it is the first treatise on marriage written and published in the New World. Lastly, it is one of the earliest American works of law. Alonso de la Veracruz, who came to Mexico in 1535, was a pioneering theologian, philosopher and Augustinian missionary. In 1537 he accompanied Father Francisco de la Cruz on a mission in New Spain. His work here centered on a return to the original texts of Aristotle. He intended to rid classical philosophy of vain and useless speculation and form a Renaissance of sorts in the new Spanish territories. Beyond instigating a school of thought previously unknown in the New World, Veracruz sought to reform previously set forth scholastic and humanistic claims. He was a noted master of the Mexican and Tarascan languages, making him an indispensable educator. In 1553, he became the first professor of the University of Mexico. He wrote the SPECULUM... in 1546. The work is divided into three parts: marriage in general and its trials and joys, the question of divorce, and the conversion of the heathen. In addition to its interest as a work of law and a woman's book, it contains a tremendous amount of information on the Indians of the New World, their lives, customs, and religions, as well as material on intermarriage of the Spanish and Indians. Veracruz, with his long experience and linguistic knowledge, was particularly suited to gather material about the natives of Mexico in the early post-Conquest period. Printing in the New World began in 1539, and the very earliest products of the press of Juan Pablos that have survived now reside entirely in institutions, or are known only be inference. This book, created 460 years ago, is a monument to all American publications which have followed. A rare and important American book, outstanding in many ways. ICAZBALCETA 28. WAGNER NUEVA BIBLIOGRAFIA, 27. JCB 1(I):195. PALAU 359149. MAGGS BIBLIOTHECA AMERICANA 4941. MEDINA (MEXICO) 31. VALTON, IMPRESOS MEXICANOS, p.51. LATHROP HARPER, AMERICANA IBERICA 1. SABIN 98919.
(Item ID: WRCAM41705) $95,000.00