The Biblioteca Nacional (the National Library of Spain) has awarded the prize Premi de Bibliografia to the Universitat de València’s professor Nicolás Bas Martín on his work titled ‘Libros, lecturas y lectores entre España y Francia a finales del siglo XVIII: la correspondencia entre el librero Fournier y Cavanilles’(books, readings and readers between Spain and France in the late XVIII century: correspondence between Fournier and Cavanilles). The work studies the introduction of French books in Spain in the XVIII century thanks to the mediation of the Valencian botanist Antoni Cavanilles.
The work awarded brings to light for the first time unknown documentation and unpublished correspondence which have allowed to reconstruct a very important period of Spanish and Frech publication history during the XVIII century. Nicolás Bas` work has allowed to disclose the commercial and publishing framework which made able the arrival of numerous books despite the ban existing. This was possible through a large ring of correspondents, customers and road hauliers allowing the movement of books –and thus, the movement of ideas, some of them representing the break with the stablished order.
This work contributes to the role of the French Enlightenment in Spain. Bas has stated that the publishing exchange meant ‘an open window to the world through hundreds of books on a variety of subject matters. These books went across the Pyrenees thanks to Cavanilles. A vast ring of intellectuals and noblemen such as the Ducs de l’Infantat, the Countess of Montijo or Pérez Bayer, among others, benefited from that.’
Last update: 13 de december de 2011 07:00.
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