botello moraes vasconcellos (1 Ergebnisse)

4to (200 x 145mm.) [32], 476p. Contemporary vellum, slightly damp-stained at beginning, last leaf slightly discoloured and with a small marginal tear.   First edition. This important epic (originally written in prose) is divided into ten books of well over 100 8-line stanzas called by the author 'mis octavas'  with rhyming scheme abababcc, each book preceded by a short prose allegory. In some places there are breaks in the numeration and stanzas are left blank, as the author mentions in his preface. The work is dedicated to Philip V (1683-1746), the Bourbon King of Spain 1700-1746, and son of the grand Dauphin. Its hero is, of course, Columbus or Colón, as he is termed in Spanish. Botello in his account of conquest seems to have been influenced by the works of Francis Bacon and also by Gassendi (see Hill op.cit.) and he views Columbus as a type of 'experimenter' who puts his theories to the test. But he is not without religion as both Christ and the Virgin appear in his poem, and indeed in the preface to this work, Antonio Serra, who is licensing the book, writes of the contrast between the old world of vice and the new world which is 'una perfectissima republica llena de aciertos, y felicidades, dirigida con las leyes del màs soberano Licurgo', this last phrase being an allusion to the Spartan law-giver, and stresses Borello's commitment to catholicism. The author (1670-1747) was Portuguese in birth and  of noble ancestry, but he spent long periods in Spain, particularly when younger in the circle of the Count of Melgar. He was the author of several works on Portuguese history and an important figure in the literature of the time. See: Ruth Hill, Sceptres and Sciences in the Spains: Four Humanists and the New Philosophy, Liverpool, UP, 2000, pp. 191-244. Medina BHA 2027. Palau 33684. Sabin 6797. Not in JCB Library.