Today Monday 3 April, the Cultural Centre La Nau of the Universitat de València will host the presentation of the work ‘‘El libro español en Londres. La visión de España en Inglaterra (siglos XVI al XIX)’, published by the Universitat and coordinated by Barry Taylor, responsible of the Colecciones Hispánicas of the British Library; and Nicolás Bas Martín, professor of the Department of History of Science and Documentation of the Universitat de València.
The two coordinators and the Vice-Principal for Culture and Equality, Antonio Ariño, will attend the presentation ceremony, which will take place at the Aula Magna at 19:00h. The entry is free.
The work has the aim of making publish the presence of Spain in London through the Spanish books that were available from 16th to 19th centuries in the capital city. A novel bibliographic approach and a contribution to the “image” of Spain in Europe, in which, for the first time, catalogues of libraries, auctions, particular library stocks and institutions are studied. This material that has existed for three centuries has left a mark in London.
The Spanish presence in the capital was significant since Stuart’s period, and continues on the Hanoverian époque when some of the main English libraries of the 18th century were build. And together with the libraries, the book shops became the best showcase to look for a Spanish book, with books such as ‘El Quijote’. All of this was creating a type of collecting associated with the world of auctions, with well-known names such as Sotheby’s or Christie’s, which allow to follow the tracks of the Spanish book.
A century that gave way to the English Romanticism, captivated by the world of Spanish book. A period that the Valencian editor Vicente Salvá lived in London and owned a library, which was a meeting point of the main English book lovers of that time.
The work collects works of renowned specialist in this field, such as Geoff West from the British Library, who was a great connoisseur of the foundational funds of the British Library, especially in the 19th century. There are also samples of the professor Don W. Cruickshank, from University College de Dublin, specialist in Calderón de la Barca; Gabriel Sánchez Espinosa, professor of Queen’s University of Belfast and expert of the Spanish book world in the 18th century. Moreover, it can be found samples of UV professor, Germán Ramírez Aledón, great connoisseur of the Valencian editor, Vicente Salvá, As well as samples of the coordinators, in order to move the audience to the Spanish funds of an English library of the 17th century; and to the presence of Spanish books in the London libraries of the 18th century.
Last update: 3 de april de 2017 08:00.
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