Florián de Ocampo, Los çinco libros primeros dela cronica general de España
The June rare book of the month is a work that shows evidence of ownership by the founder of the library, Robert Ashley (1565-1641). It is Florián de Ocampo’s Los çinco libros primeros dela cronica general de España, printed in 1553 in Medina del Campo. Medina del Campo is best known for the 1489 treaty named after it, which outlined the marriage details between Catherine of Aragon and Prince Arthur, as well outlining a reduction of tariffs between Spain and England. Due to its insistence on an anti-French alliance between England and Spain however, amendments made to it by Henry VII in 1490 were rejected by Spain and the treaty was never fully ratified by the two countries.
Ocampo (also known as Florián do Campo) was born circa 1495 and died in 1558. He is described in the Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance as a “Spanish chronicler” and he was in fact the “first official royal historian” of Emperor Charles V. The title page features a large woodcut coat-of-arms which has been hand-coloured in this copy. The text has been printed in red and black. The book is a historical chronicle of Spain and was first published in 1543, with this 1553 edition being a continuation and enlargement of that first work. According to the Dictionary, it “attempts to trace the Habsburg dynasty to its roots in the ancient world through a compilation of the medieval chronicles of Castile”. The work was originally intended to cover from prehistory to the 16th century. As Ocampo died in 1558, however, the work was continued by Ambrosio de Morales and others; this 1553 edition is the final one completed by Ocampo. The last ‘volume’ was issued in 1601, written by Juan de Mariana, and entitled Historia general de España.
The title page has two inscriptions- showing signs of previous ownership. One of the signatures is partially legible, despite a later hand trying to scratch it out- ‘Frey Garcia de Feibrez’. The other inscription has become too damaged to read. A third ownership sign- that of Robert Ashley, appears on the verso of folio lxxviii. It makes reference to two other works which mention ‘Guadelqueuir’ (i.e. Guadalquivir, a river in Iberia), one by Ambrosio de Morales and a work entitled Historia del Monte Celia de Nuestra Senora de la Salceda, by Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza, printed in Grenada in 1616. In the copy of the Mendoza book held by the library, Ashley has cross-referenced back to this entry in Ocampo’s work. This highlights how Ashley was using the books in his library- reading and referencing works of interest and highlighting additional information to be found in them on certain topics. As is common throughout the non-English books owned by Ashley, he has written his notes in the original language of the book, in this case Spanish.
In addition to his legal work, Ashley translated six books during his lifetime:
Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas, L’Uranie ou muse celeste, 1589- translated from the French into Latin
A comparison of the English and Spanish nation, 1589- translated from the French into English
Louis Leroy, Of the interchangeable course, or variety of things in the whole world, 1594- translated from the French into English
Miguel de Luna, Almansor the learned, 1627- translated from the Spanish into English
Cristoforo Borri, Cochin-China, 1633- translated from the Italian into English
Virgilio Malvezzi, David persecuted- translated from the Italian into English
Renae Satterley (r.satterley@middletemple.org.uk), Acting Keeper of the Library, June 2016