Breve compendio y elogio de la Vida del Rey Phelipe Segundo. [with] Hurtado (Pedro, de Alcozer) Memorial dado a la Catholica Real Magestad del Rey N[os]tro Señor D[o]n Phelipe III por D[o]n Pedro Hurtado de Alcazer verino de la Ciudad de Toledo. Sobre las Causas, y remedios de la deipoblacion de España.

(Economics.) [Idíazquez (Juan); Perez (Antonio)]

Edité par mid- to late 18th century

A propos de cet article

[ON THE REIGNS OF PHILIP II AND PHILIP III OF SPAIN] manuscript on paper, in Spanish, brown ink, cursive hand, watermark/countermark: (endpapers) half column/fleur-de-lis and GOZQVE; (text) coat of arms flanked by rampant lions, GB and 2 within circles, and QVARTINO, a few leaves minimally yellowed, 2 works in 1, ff. [35], [3, blank]; ff. [13], [5, blank], c.20 lines per full page, (295 x 250mm), contemporary re-used vellum, remains of ties, all edges sprinkled red, contemporary ms. 'P.V. M.S. 9' and '1o' inked to spine and upper cover respectively, traces of ancient folds to lower cover, couple of very small holes to spine, a little creased. . A most interesting Spanish manuscript, in excellent condition, featuring copies of two works produced during the reigns of Philip II and Philip III of Spain. The first 'Breve compendio y elogio de la Vida del Rey Phelipe Segundo' is an account of the king's life and death. Very popular at the Spanish court, where it began to circulate in the 1620s, the work survives (with slight variations) in several institutional manuscripts, mostly dating, like the present, to the 18th century. It was first printed in 1788, under a different title. The uncertain authorship has traditionally been assigned either to Juan Idíazquez, officer of the city of Leon, or to Antonio Perez (d.1611), secretary to Philip II. It is instead an anonymous free translation from a chapter of Pierre Matthieu's important 'Histoire de France' (1605). It discusses, among others, his war against the Moors in Granada and that in Flanders, the Battle of Lepanto, etc., as well as the tragic death of the heir apparent Don Carlos, who died in prison where he was put by his father. In general, the anonymous translator cleverly altered its source in favour of Philip II, 'Rey Prudente', 'smoothening the thorniest passages where the Spaniards were in difficult situations, revising the king's deeds, and blaming Henry IV of France for feeding religious conflict' (Izquierdo, p.223). The second is concerned with political economy -- one of several important reports on the failing situation of the Spanish economy at the turn of the 17th century. Originally written in 1619 by Pedro Hurtado de Alcozer (or Alcocer, fl.1610s), active in Toledo, it was only first printed, in few copies, in 1806. It focuses on the causes and remedies of the growing poverty and depopulation of Spain, where people are 'poorer than they were before the Indies were discovered'. Causes include overseas trade with China and the Philippines; the influx, and subsequent inflation, of foreign gold and luxury goods (e.g., silk from Italy, wool from England); the desire to live off colonial 'haciendas' or 'fincas' (estates); the plague, wars and national debt. Consequences include the increase in poverty and beggars due to diminishing agriculture and local industry. The papermaker Gozque, whose name appears on the endpapers, flourished in Spain in the late 18th century. The two armorial watermarks on the text leaves resemble some used in the Iberian Peninsula in the mid-18th century (e.g., Heywood 724-30). Chicago, HSA (2) and Penn copies recorded in the US; only BL (2) in the UK. A.Izquierdo, 'Las vidas de Felipe II de España' and 'Manuscritos de la vida de Felipe II', in Pierre Matthieu en España (2019), pp.205-55 and 269-72; J.L. Paradisas Fuentes, Humanismo y Economia (2014), pp.101-2.

N° de réf. du vendeur 69787

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Breve compendio y elogio de la Vida del Rey Phelipe Segundo. [with] Hurtado (Pedro, de Alcozer) Memorial dado a la Catholica Real Magestad del Rey N[os]tro Señor D[o]n Phelipe III por D[o]n Pedro Hurtado de Alcazer verino de la Ciudad de Toledo. Sobre las Causas, y remedios de la deipoblacion de España.
• Éditeur: mid- to late 18th century
• Catalogues du vendeur:
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