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4to, ff. [4], 197 [recte 199], with large woodcut device on title; lacking the final leaf with the colophon (see below); numerous errors in pagination; some upper outer margins a bit short, but not affecting text; five or six leaves a little trimmed at outer or lower margins, affecting a couple of catch words only; an excellent copy in red morocco by Chambolle-Duru, gilt edges; preserved in a green morocco slip case, the case a bit rubbed; discreet private library stamp to verso of title and one text leaf. EXTREMELY RARE FIRST AND ONLY EDITION OF GOMEZ DE LUQUE'S CHIVALRIC ROMANCE, HIGHLY PRAISED BY CERVANTES IN THE CANTO DE CALLIOPE, HIS LAUDATORY POEM ABOUT THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE POETS OF SPAIN. Tú que de Celidon con dulce plectro/ Hiciste resonar el nombre y fama,/ Cuyo admirable y bien limado metro,/ A lauro y triunfo la convida y llama:/ Recibe el mando, la corona y cetro/ Gonzalo Gómez, desta que te ama,/ En señal que merece tu persona/ El justo señorio de Helicona (Cervantes, Canto de Calliope , Galatea, book 6). Dice el autor en su dedicatoria á Felipe II que hasta hoi (1581) en la felice España ninguno ha sacado de ficcion libro en metro: efectivamente, no recuerdo que nadie le precedera, pues aun cuando la obra de Garrido de Villena sobre la batalla de Roncésvalles, y la de Gómez Aillon [that is: Diego Ximénez de Ayllón] en que relata los hechos del Cid, son en gran parte caballeresca y de invencion, en el fondo están basadas en hechos históricos. El Celidon de Iberia es un poema puramente caballeresco, dividido en cuarenta cantos, tan raro como mal impreso. Los ejemplares perfectamente completos son tan dificiles de encontrar, que los Srs. Sancho Rayon y Zarco del Valle solo han visto uno compuesto de 201 hojas en vez de 202: pues se conoce le faltaba la hoja suelta del fin con las señas de la impresion (Salva II p. 71). Little is known with any certainty about Gómez de Luque. Styling himself a natural de la ciudad de Cordoba on the title, there is no documentation to confirm this; his date of birth and death remain unknown. His literary activity is confined to the period of 1580 to 1590, with a number of stanzas and sonnets published in collaboration with Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Pedro de Padilla, Pedro Lainez, and López Maldonado among others, and with which circle he appears to have maintained a close relationship (see the article Poetas Luqueños by Antonio Cruz Casado, online, where the author furthermore suggests a probable influence of Gomez on the development of Cervantes literary work). Described as Libro Primero, no more was published. Included are two sonnets by Antonio Fernández de Córdoba and Juan de Quintana. The first Spanish fictional romance in verse, Gómez de Luque s work is extremely rare, with almost all of the few copies located outside of Spain apparently equally lacking the colophon leaf, as was the case with the copy auctioned by Sotheby s in 1933, the only other copy recorded as having come up for sale in over 80 years. Printed on poor paper stock, our copy is in remarkably fine condition. Martin Abad 932; Palau 104066; Simón Diaz X-5853; Vindel 1159; a very rare book, OCLC records three locations in Spain, at Biblioteca Nacional, Biblioteca de Catalunya, and Biblioteca Universitat de Barcelona (these three apparently complete); the copies there recorded outside of Spain, all without the colophon leaf, are located at Chicago, Harvard (also described as short margined), Thomas Fisher Library, Toronto (with the note: first two leaves are defective ), University of Birmingham, and the British Library. In addition to the copies located in OCLC there is a copy with the colophon at the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, however with a very mutilated title page and badly stained, and a further, complete copy, at the Hispanic Society of America (the Salva copy). Seller Inventory # 3b3279d43bc13a358fe440f417343643
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