The IER library has in its deposits, full of hundreds of books and documents, true jewels, but until now there was no copy of ‘The Chronicle of King Don Juan el Segundo’, whose location has been the result of years of search and investigation by its responsible librarian, José Ignacio Peso. With the achievement of its acquisition, the Institute now commemorates the celebration of Book Day.
The work was published in Logroño in the 16th century, at a time when Logroño was home to one of the best printers of his century: Arnao Guillén de Brocar, a printer of French origin who was active from 1490 to 1523.
It is considered “the most beautiful book to come out of Brocar’s presses in Logroño.” It was commissioned by Emperor Carlos V, and one of the most important books of the 16th century Spanish printing press. Complete copies of this work are scarce throughout the world, this copy being a great piece for any specialized library such as that of the IER.
The text is attributed to Fernán Pérez de Guzmán and the correction to Lorenzo Galíndez de Carvajal. It was prefaced by Alvar García de Santamaría and in the title it is stated that it was printed “by order of the Catholic King Don Carlos, his great-grandson” (sic) and with the privilege granted by Cisneros in 1515, forming an exceptional example of the revitalization of this genre in time of the emperor. This work is especially rich in its decoration due to the quality of its woodcuts, its iconographic complexity and the number of images.
Brocar’s engravings go beyond the traditional character and rigidity of images. Probably, two of the most exceptional engravings of his production are the cover on which he represents the monarch and the equestrian image of the monarch located on one of the interior covers in which Brocar includes a large part of the data necessary for identification.
Among the royal equestrian images of the set of Chronicles, one of the most outstanding is the one that appears in this Chronicle of John II of 1517. It is a complete folio composition: the monarch on horseback appears under a Gothic tracery and flanked by portraits of half body in niches, most of them busts of relatives with a prominent role in his life.
Capital xylographic letters, the entire work printed in two inks, text in two columns, cover in two inks with border and portrait of King Don Juan II, the printer’s typographic mark engraved on wood at the colophon, colophon in red ink, Arias binding in full Renaissance style leather with golden nerves and cuts… A historical and cultural jewel that already rests in the IER.
–
