Guevara, Antonio de.

Spanish Letters: Historical, Satyrical, and Moral…Recommended by Sir. R. L’[Estrange] and made English from the Best Original by Mr. [John] Savage.

London: Printed for F. Saunders…and A. Roper, , 1697. First edition of this translation, which was the first since 1577 of the Epístolas familiares (Valladolid, 1539 – 1542) by Spanish writer and moralist Antonio de Guevara (ca. 1481 – 1545). The Epístolas familiares are sometimes called “The Golden Letters.” . Some rubbing to calf and some chipping at tail of spine. Hinges somewhat tender. Title-page a cancel, as usual. A bit of light foxing to edges. Two twentieth-century items pasted down to front endpapers: short poem from Leaves of a Library by Walter Hamilton on pastedown and the bookplate of the University of Amsterdam Spanish Studies professor Jonas Andries van Praag (1895-1969) on free endpaper. A very good, clean, and fresh copy of one of the most important works by courtier Antonio de Guevara. Contemporary calf ruled in black and with raised bands on spine. 5, dedication], 183, [7, table of contents] pp. Item #16777

Guevara was also the author of Reloj de príncipes (1529, English: “The Dial of Princes”), a widely translated mirror for princes that became one of the most influential books of the sixteenth century. Along with the present work, his other major publications were Menosprecio de corte y alabanza de aldea (1539) and La década de Césares (also 1539). Over the course of his life, Guevara served as the court preacher, court historiographer, and counselor to Charles V, as well as the Bishop of Guadix and the Bishop of Mondoñedo. Guevara’s work is now considered to be exemplary of the values and attitudes of Charles V and his court.

John Savage (1673 – 1747) was a translator and Church of England clergyman. Savage traveled with and tutored the young James Cecil, Fifth Earl of Salisbury, for eight years, after which Salisbury appointed him chaplain. Along with the present work, his translations included Antonio Moscheni’s Brutes Turned Critics (1695) and the Spanish text A Full View of Popery (1704).

Price: $600.00