Itinerant shelves: a glimpse of informal book trade in Real de Chiapa (New Spain, XVII)
- Editor(s):
- Arnooi, W. van; Dlabačová, A; Geleijns, E.; Schaeps, J.; Warnar, G.; Zanen, S. van
Abstract
In 1636, captain Cristóbal De Velasco presented to a notary an inventory of books he had or had owned following an edict of the Inquisition. In the severely damaged document, De Velasco recounted the books he had sold to Alonso Larios, the brother superior of the convent of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy in Real de Chiapa (Captaincy General of Guatemala). These volumes had been in the possession of Diego Sánchez de Pinos, an Inquisition commissioner who had named De Velasco as executor. This document presents us with a glimpse of the informal book trade that took place in New Spain. Especially of interest is that this exchange took place in the periphery of the viceroyalty, attesting to the books that men of the Church deemed necessary for their work and the networks to which they belonged.
