Relacion de las reales exequias que se celebraron por la serenissima Señora Doña Maria Luisa Gabriela de Saboya, Reyna de España. Madrid: Francisco de Villadiego, 1715.
4to (201 x 145 mm). [2] 170 pages. 2 parts, separately titled. Large folding engraved plate (568 x 344 mm.) of the castrum doloris. Typographic title borders, woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces. (Folding plate trimmed to platemark, 2 neatly repaired tears just entering image; occasional tiny tears to page edges). Contemporary laced-case parchment binding, two string fore-edge loops (lacking attachments), manuscript spine title (“Honras de la Reyna”) and shelfmark no. (covers unevenly bleached white). Provenance: Mauricio de Belamazan (Mercedarian monk, see below), inscription: “De la libreria de la M.d de Calatd [i.e., Merced de Calatayud] fr. Mauricio de Belamazan” on title verso.***
Only edition of a rare account of the funeral of a Spanish queen, Maria Luisa Gabriela (1688-1714), Princess of Savoy, first wife of Philip V, King of Spain. Married at 13, she died at the age of 25. Affectionately dubbed by her subjects “la Savoyana,” the young Queen had shown her strength of will as soon as she arrived at the Spanish court, and as 14-year old regent of Spain, while her husband was in Naples fighting to preserve his throne against the Habsburgs in the War of the Spanish Succession, she exhibited extraordinary maturity and intelligence. Two of her four children survived infancy, and later became Kings of Spain (as Luis I and Ferdinando VI), but childbirth was for her, as for so many women, a mortal threat. Four births in six years had steadily weakened her, and she died of of tuberculosis in February 2014.
These biographical details are described in the first part of the text, preceding an account of her death and its aftermath, including the general mourning of the court and the public, the transfer of her body from the palace to the Royal Convent of the Incarnation in Madrid (she was later buried in the Escorial), and preparations for the funeral, held on May 17th and 18th in the Convent church. Follows a detailed description of the church decorations. Drapes of black velvet edged with gold braid, 50 “hieroglyphics” with pictures (i.e., emblems), and the royal catafalque (the Tumulo Real) itself, are all exhaustively described, along with transcriptions of the Latin funeral inscriptions (pp. 81-92). As if one were present watching the procession, a long list of the attendees follows. The lengthy funeral oration by the Dominican Manuel Garzo, with its own title-page, precedes a description of the conclusion of the ceremony.
The large folding plate shows the elaborate edifice, the Tumulo, erected above the bier, with its columns, volutes, immense chandeliers and candles, carved putti and mourning figures, curtains, and a painting. The unknown engraver used light etching to show the central painting, of three graces in the foreground and the three fates, spinning, measuring, and cutting the thread of life in the background.
The author was an aristocrat, politician, and military leader, who founded the Royal Spanish Academy, which he directed from 1713 until his death in 1725. His noble titles take up 11 lines of the title-page. This copy has the corrected state of the title, incorrectly dated 1705 in the first state. The book belonged to Mauricio de Belamazan, a monk of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy (Nostra Señora de la Merced) in Catalayud who approved, on behalf of the order, at least two works printed in Zaragoza in 1711 and 1723 (the first is CCPB000463651-1; the second is digitized in Google).
No copies found in American libraries. Outside Spain I locate only the Eugène Piot copy at the V&A, and a copy at the Biblioteca Nacional de México. Catálogo Colectivo del Patrimonio Bibliográfico CCPB000073158-7; Watanabe-O'Kelly, Festivals and ceremonies 2398 = Early Modern Festival Books Database (Oxford) 2398. Not in Palau. Item #4451
Price: $3,200.00
Status: On Hold