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To James Madison from George W. Erving, 30 September 1806

From George W. Erving

Private No 15

Original
Madrid Sep. 30th 1806

Dear Sir

I have not been at all forgetful of the commission with which you were so good as to charge me in your letter of Novr. 1. 1805;1 but as bookselling is one of those trades which is conducted here with most address, it seemed that I shoud run too great a risque of not executing your order satisfactorily, by putting myself altogether in the hands of one of those persons who are employed to purchase libraries; but that it was better to wait till I coud get safe advice, & some little assistance from my own knowledge of the language. The design was suspended by my absence in England, but since my return I have obtained from literary persons & friends such information, as I think will enable me to proceed & fulfil your direction. I have only some doubt as to the extent of the order; whether in requiring such books as relate to America generally, you mean to comprize all the histories of their voyages & discoveries, as well from Portugal as this Country, all their interior Expeditions, & what relates to the customs & history of the Countries discovered real & pretended, as well as to their geography. The books in this class are very numerous, but the best part of such information is to be obtained from manuscripts, & these it will require much time & care to select.

On Peru there is an Excellent Work by Bueno: on the River de plata by a Franciscan Friar:2 As to Mexico there is a curious old work by one Villa Senor called “Teatro Americano”3 & containing some very good statistical observations upon that country: These and the “Politica Indiana” by Solerzano,4 The Indian ordinances5 & “autos accordados”6 I understand may be had. And as to Lima there is a collection of providencias called “Gazaphila Peruviano[”];7 such books as these I presume you woud wish to have, & the more principal & generally known works, such as Solis,8 of course.

In Diplomacy the works are few, & the greater part in Manuscript. There is I beleive a collection of treaties made by Spain from the commencement of the 17th to the End of the 18 Century; there is another from the latter End of the 15th to the latter End of the 17. Century. The books antient or modern on purely commercial subjects are not numerous, but blended with political Œconomy, this class is extensive.

The Works of Ustoria9 & Ulloa10 somewhat antient may be had. There is the “projecto Œconomico” de Ward;11 The “education popular” of Count Campomanes,12 & many other tracts on political Œconomy by the same author which are valuable: Campomanes also cites in his book many of the most Esteemed writers on these Subjects. “Las memorias sobre el Comercio de los Catalanes[”] by Campomany13 has a great character: And there is a later work which has also a high reputation called “La Historia del luxo y de las leyes Suntuarias de Espagna” by Sampere.14 Last year the abbate Gandara published 4 numbers of a work called “Puertas cerradas y puertas abiertas”15 it was then surpressed, but the whole was afterwards published at Bayonne & may possibly be found here.

I have already procured some books, amongst which Castillio,16 Solis, Cortes,17 Antonio de Leon,18 & Bartolome de las Casas,19 & some of Campomanes; but suppose it will be better for the present, & till I can have the pleasure of hearing from you, to proceed rather slowly. I ought also to mention that the prices of books of this nature are very high, & frequently very Exorbitant. In the mean time I shall endeavour to send you the “Bibliotheca Hispañiola20 which tho not included in your order, you will certainly be glad to have, as it will afford you the best information for the selection of antient books, Either in the Classes you mention, or in any other which you may think proper hereafter to add. This work is in 2 Vols follio and divided into two parts the first “Vetus” comprizing an Œra, from the time of Augustus to the 15 Century, & the “novus” comes down from that period to 1684. It contains a brief Acct of the Authors & their Works, & has very copious & well arranged indices; The material one in Vol. 4. page 535. I have also procured another very curious & useful Bibliotheca it is by Antonio Leon Pinelo, is general in the literature “Oriental occidental, Nautica, & Geographica” & was published (this 2d impression) in the year 1737.21 As Mr Tombaril may probably soon return to the U. States I will send these books by him. Dear Sir with sincere respect & very faithfy your most obliged & obt St

George W Erving

RC (DNA: RG 59, DD, Spain, vol. 10). Cover docketed by Daniel Brent.

1PJM-SS description begins Robert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series (12 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1986–). description ends 10:489.

2Erving probably referred to a manuscript or printed edition of one or more of the fourteen geographical essays on various regions of the viceroyalty of Peru compiled by Cosme Bueno and his son Bartolomé and published in the Lima almanac El conocimiento de los tiempos from 1764 to 1778. Cosme Bueno was married, but Bartolomé was a priest and may have been a member of the Franciscan order (Ramón Ma. Serrera Contreras, Luisa Vila Vilar, and Concepción Hernández-Díaz, El aragonés Cosme Bueno y la Descripcién geográfica del Río de la Plata [1768–1776] [Huesca, Spain, 1996], 19–20, 24–25, 60–64).

3José Antonio de Villa-Señor y Sanchez, Theatro americano: descripción general de los reynos, y provincias de la Nueva Españna, y sus jurisdicciones […] (Mexico City, 1746–49).

4Juan de Solórzano Pereyra, Politica Indiana (2 vols.; Madrid, 1736–39).

5Erving may have referred to any or all of the following sets of early laws governing the treatment of native Americans and other matters in Spanish colonies: Ordenanzas reales del Consejo de las Indias (Valladolid, Spain, 1603); Leyes y ordenanzas nueuamente hechas por Su Magestad, para la gouernaciõ de las Indias, y buen tratamiento y conseruacion de los Indios […] (Valladolid, Spain, 1603); Ordenanzas reales, para la casa de la Contratacion de Seuilla, y para otras cosas de las Indias, y de la nauegacion y contratacion dellas (Valladolid, Spain, 1604); Ordenanzas reales para el gobierno de los tribunales de contaduria mayor en los Reynos de las Indias (Madrid, 1604); Ordenanças para remedio de los daños, e inconuenientes, que se siguen de los descaminos, y arribadas maliciosas de los nauios que nauegan á las Indias Ocidentales (Madrid, 1619); Sumarios de la recopilacion general de las leyes […] (Madrid, 1628); Ordenanzas de la junta de guerra de Indias. Nuevamente recopiladas, y por el Rey Don Felipe Quarto N.S., para su govierno (Madrid, 1636); Ordenanzas del Consejo Real de las Indias: Nvevamente recopiladas y por el Rey Don Felipe Quarto N.S. para su govierno (Madrid, 1636); and a compilation by Antonio de León Pinelo of all of these and others, Recopilacion de leyes de los reynos de las Indias (4 vols.; Madrid, 1681). Most of these works are mentioned in George Butler Griffin, “A Brief Bibliographical Sketch of the ‘Recopilacion de Indias’—or Spanish India Code—and Other Collections of Spanish Laws relating to the Indies, Compiled during the Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries,” Historical Society of Southern California, Los Angeles 1887 (1888): 41–44.

6Eusebio Ventura Beleña, Recopilacion sumaria de todos los autos acordados de la real audiencia y sala del crimen de esta nueva España […] (2 vols.; Mexico, 1787).

7Gaspar de Escalona y Agüero et al., Gazophilatium regium Perubicum: Opus sane pulcrum, a plerisque petitum, et ab omnibus, in universum, desideratum, non sine magno labore, & experientia digestum, provideque, & accurate illustratum […] (Madrid, 1675).

8Antonio de Solís, Historia de la conquista de Mexico, poblacion, y progressos de la America septentrional, conocida por el nombre de Nueva España (Madrid, 1684). JM included this work in his 1783 list of books for Congress; Thomas Jefferson owned an edition of it published in 1783–84, and in 1785 he sent a copy to JM from France (PJM description begins William T. Hutchinson et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison (1st ser., vols. 1–10, Chicago, 1962–77; vols. 11–17, Charlottesville, Va., 1977–91). description ends 6:62, 113; Sowerby, Catalogue of Jefferson’s Library description begins E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson (5 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1952–59). description ends , 4:266; Boyd, Papers of Thomas Jefferson description begins Julian P. Boyd et al., eds, The Papers of Thomas Jefferson (45 vols. to date; Princeton, N.J., 1950–). description ends , 8:460–62).

9Erving may have intended to refer to Francisco de Vitoria, a Dominican friar and professor of theology at the University of Salamanca from 1526 to his death in 1546. His Relectiones theologicae XII, first published in Lyon in 1557, included his lectures condemning the subjugation and exploitation of indigenous people in Spain’s American colonies (Francisco de Vitoria, Political Writings, ed. Anthony Pagden and Jeremy Lawrance [Cambridge, 1991], xvii, xxiv–xxviii, xxx, xxxiii–xxxiv).

10Erving referred to Antonio de Ulloa, the author of Noticias americanas: Entretenimientos phisicos-historicos, sobre la América Meridional, y la Septentrianal oriental […] (Madrid, 1772). With Jorge Juan, Ulloa also wrote Observaciones astronómicas, y physicas hechas de orden de S. Mag. en los reynos del Perù […] (Madrid, 1748) and Dissertation historica, y geographica sobre el meridiano de demarcation entre los dominios de España, y Portugal […] (Madrid, 1749); and, with Juan and Garcilaso de la Vega, Relation historica del viage a la America Meridional […] (Madrid, 1748). Jefferson owned copies of the first, second, and fourth of these works, and JM owned a French translation of the third (Sowerby, Catalogue of Jefferson’s Library description begins E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson (5 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1952–59). description ends , 4:270–72; PJM description begins William T. Hutchinson et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison (1st ser., vols. 1–10, Chicago, 1962–77; vols. 11–17, Charlottesville, Va., 1977–91). description ends 13:287).

11Bernardo Ward, Projecto economico, en que se proponen varias providencias, dirigidas à promover los interesas de Espana (Madrid, 1779).

12Pedro Rodriguez Campomanes, Miguel Alvarez Ossorio y Redín, and Francisco Martínez de Mata, Discurso sobre la education popular de los artesanos, y su fomento (Madrid, 1775).

13Erving probably intended to refer to Antonio de Capmany y Montpalau, Memorias historicas sobre la marina comercioy artes de la antigua ciudad de Barcelona (4 vols.; Madrid, 1779–92).

14Juan Sempere y Guarinos, Historia del luxo, y de las leyes suntuarias de España (2 vols.; Madrid, 1788). Jefferson owned a copy of this work (Sowerby, Catalogue of Jefferson’s Library description begins E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson (5 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1952–59). description ends , 1:81).

15The suppressed edition of the work to which Erving probably referred was published under the title Almacen de frutos literarios inéditos de los mejores autores (2 vols. in 1; Madrid, 1804). Along with introductory material, it contained Miguel de la Gándara’s lengthy essay, “Apuntes sobre el bien y el mal de España,” a 1759 manuscript which carries a subtitle reading in part: “dimanados de sus puertas abiertas y puertas cerradas” (Dionisio Hidalgo, Diccionario general de bibliografía española [7 vols.; Madrid, 1862–81], 1:48; Moses Tyson, “The Spanish Manuscripts in the John Rylands Library,” Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 16 [1932]: 196).

16Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Historia verdadera de la conquista de la nueva España (Madrid, 1632). Jefferson owned a copy of this work (Sowerby, Catalogue of Jefferson’s Library description begins E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson (5 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1952–59). description ends , 4:265).

17Hernán Cortés, Historia de nueva-España: escrita por su esclarecido conquistador Hernan Cortes, aumentada con otros documentos, y notas, ed. and comp. Francisco Antonio Lorenzana (Mexico City, 1770). Jefferson owned a copy of this work (Sowerby, Catalogue of Jefferson’s Library description begins E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson (5 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1952–59). description ends , 266–68).

18Erving may have referred to two works by Pinelo: Recopilacion de leyes de los reynos de las Indias (see note 5 above), and Tratado de confirmaciones reales de encomiendas, oficios i casos, en que se requieren para las Indias Occidentales (Madrid, 1629). Jefferson owned a copy of the latter work (Sowerby, Catalogue of Jefferson’s Library description begins E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson (5 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1952–59). description ends , 4:253). It is also possible, but less likely, that Erving had in mind Antonio de Leon y Gama’s Descriptión histórica y cronológica de las dos piedras que con ocasión del nuevo empedrado que se está formando en la plaza principal de México, se hallaron en ella el año de 1790 (Mexico City, 1792).

19Erving had probably acquired a part or the entire series of eight tracts published by Bartolomé de las Casas in Seville in 1552, all relating to las Casas’s condemnation of the atrocities perpetrated upon indigenous Americans under Spanish rule. Jefferson owned Spanish, French, and Italian editions of several of the essays (Lawrence A. Clayton, Bartolomé de las Casas: A Biography [Cambridge, 2012], 390–91; Sowerby, Catalogue of Jefferson’s Library description begins E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson (5 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1952–59). description ends , 4:256–58).

20Erving referred to Nicolas Antonio’s Bibliotheca hispana nova […] (2 vols.; Madrid, 1783–88), and Bibliotheca hispana vetus […] (2 vols.; Madrid, 1788).

21Antonio de León Pinelo, Epitome de la bibliotheca oriental, y occidental, nautica, y geografica (3 vols.; Madrid, 1737–38). Jefferson owned a copy of the 1629 first edition of the work (Sowerby, Catalogue of Jefferson’s Library description begins E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson (5 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1952–59). description ends , 4:253).

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