No. 03 (2014)

From typographical, documentary and historical points of departure, this article deals with a printed pamphlet in the archives of the House of Alba which contains the transcription of the letter confirming the privileges accorded to Christopher Columbus by the Catholic Monarchs in the Capitulations of Santa Fe. Whilst the text and the historical event that it derives from are both well known, here for the first time the attempt is made to identify the typography of this document, which hitherto has only rarely been referred to. As a result, its status as an incunable or post-incunable is rejected and its publication is related to the progress of the so-called Columbus lawsuits, which were to play such an important role in the history and development of legal proceedings.

In 1973 Eugenio Asensio published an article where he mentioned Lazarillo de Tormes like the model for two almost unknown works. One of these texts was Coloquios by Baltasar de Collazos, published in 1568. Since then, great part of the critique has studied the relation of the work with the picaresque literature, specially in the configuration of the characters. In this work we try to check the above mentioned dependence and to analyze if we can speak or not of the Coloquios as a picaresque work.

The Physiologus, a collection of Christian allegories drawn from the natural properties attributed to certain animals and plants, real or fantastic, composed in Greek language somewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean -Alexandria or Syria- between the second and fourth centuries of our era, has generated a vast literature since the late 19th century around its origin, authorship and versions in different languages. However, except for a few honorable exceptions, had not yet been addressed in depth the influence that this booklet was able to exert on the literary-visual genre of books of emblems from the 16th century on. Usually considered by critics as major source of the bookish Emblematics animalistic side, in this paper we aim to address in detail the true impact of the Physiologus reached both in pictures and allegorical interpretations of the emblems which, a priori, seem to keep some kind of thematic relationship with the primitive Christian text.

The Emblemata (Frankfurt, 1596) of the Calvinist judge D. Lebeus Batillius, book that closes the Golden Age of French Emblematics, are detailed studied for the first time in light of the author’s biography and his relationship with the emblematist Janus Jacobus Boissardus, paying attention to the genesis, the structure and the composition method, the content and the direct and indirect sources; likewise, the significant differences between this editio princeps and the second edition (Heidelberg, 1600) are pointed out. As a brief anthology, we add a selection of emblems, whose analysis reveals the author’s passion for the Classic Antiquity, his preference to the Neostoicism and his cautious and disguised –i.e. characterisctic of a nicodemite– commitment to the Reformed Church.

The relationship between woman and music in the Golden Age is not easy to address as a study objective due to the shortage of sources. Literary testimonies are a rich vein, especially the –a priori- most realistic genres like picaresque. This paper compares the models provided by some novels of the Golden Age and the traces left in historical documents from Seville, with the objective of knowing the profiles of female musical practice and the public and private spheres where it placed.

This article aims to provide two unpublished manuscripts by Jesuit Gil de la Mata, dating back to the first contact of Christianity in Japan from century XVI, and includes historical contributions about the Martyr Damian Yamaguchi. These documents, also translated into Portuguese by Luís Fróis in his History of Japam, narrate interesting anecdotes about the life of this character in his murdered years before. His ability to preach and to convert his countrymen, including his singular craft of unknown exorcist came to impact many authors who narrated some events of this unusual man. This essay offers another vision of Brother Damian, blind catechist for a long period, who had to replace the Jesuits expelled upon precept daimyo Hideyoshi.

Results and future prospects of the research team Progetto Mambrino (Verona University) which studies the literary relations between Spain and Italy in the field of chivalric literature.

The "Diccionario antroponímico del ciclo amadisiano" o "DINAM" is a digital resources for searching names, nicknames, family trees and other associated with characters in the "Amadis of Gaul" cycle.

Review on the book: Proto-giornalismo e letteratura. Avvisi a stampa, relaciones de sucesos, Gabriel Andrés (ed.), Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2013.

Review on the book: Ignacio Arellano, El Ingenio de Lope de Vega. Escolios a las "Rimas humanas y divinas del licenciado Tomé Burguillos" Nueva York, IDEA (Instituto de Estudios Auriseculares), colección Batihoja, 2012, 307 págs, ISBN 978-1-938795-84-8.

Review on the first edition in Spanish of the Emblems by the Dutch humanist of the sixteenth century, Hadrianus Junius. It is a complete and accurate translation of the Latin version (Emblemata – princeps editio 1565 and expanded 1585) enriched with a documented and illuminating preliminary study, profuse explanatory notes and five useful indexes.

Review on the book Géneros editoriales y relaciones de sucesos en la Edad Moderna, dir. Pedro M. Cátedra García, ed. María Eugenia Díaz Tena, Salamanca, SEMYR, 2013, 424 páginas.

A review on the translation of Pierio Valeriano's Hieroglyphica into Spanish.