Tiernos suspiros, con que el cabildo de la insigne, y real collegial iglesia del sitio de San Ildephonso explico su quebranto en el entierro, y honras de su real fundador, y patrono el Señor D. Phelipe Quinto, y oracion funebre, que dixo el Doctor Don Bruno Lozano, canonigo, magistral de dicha iglesia, dedicados a la catholica magestad del Señor Don Fernando VI.
4to, [16], 92, [4] pages (last [4] p. blank); one engraved plate (336 x 220mm), folded, by José Andrade illustrating the catafalque created by Huberto Demandre (or Dumandre) for Philip V; wood-cut of royal arms on dedication, and numerous wood-cut initials, vignettes and culs-de-lampe; small wormholes on gutter and upper and lower margins throughout, not touching letters until p. 69, when a few printed notes on the outer margin are affected, mostly not impairing legibility. Bound in contemporary magenta silk, corners and edges a little worn, two small wormholes on back board; spine expertly restored in paper with color blended to match. A very rare account, illustrated with a folding plate of the catafalque, of the elaborate funeral arrangements of Philip V of Spain (1683-1746), which took place between July and November 1746. Philip died on July 9, 1746 and was succeeded by his son Ferdinand VI, to whom Tiernos suspiros is dedicated. The first half of Tiernos suspiros (pp. 1-46) recounts the meticulous attention to protocol that accompanied the death of King Philip, from the promulgation of news of his passing at the Palace of Buen Retiro in Madrid; the disposition of the “Royal Cadaver” in the audience room of the palace, its attire (in a silk suit embroidered with gold thread, peruque, plumed hat, gloves, scepter and sword), the casket (covered in white cloth embellished with silver thread and gold flowers), and the specially constructed platform and richly embroidered silk tapestries on which it rested; to details about the masses and prayers that took place in Madrid from July 12-14, before a somber procession of retainers and grandees transported the body from Madrid to the chapel of the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, its final resting place. The area around San Ildefonso, in the hills near Segovia, around 50 miles north of Madrid, had long served as hunting grounds for many Castilian kings. When Philip V began building La Granja and its extensive gardens in the 1720s, and it quickly became his favorite residence. The sumptuous catafalque, designed by Huberto Demandre (1701-1781), the French-born director of sculpture studies at the Royal Academy of San Fernando, receives special attention. It was installed in the center of the royal chapel over a low platform of three steps, about one foot from the floor. Black cloths were draped under the canopy, and on them were suspended placards of various sizes containing poems and elegies—all reproduced over 14 pages—dedicated to the late king; additional placards were strategically placed in other areas of the chapel and at the entrance to the tomb. The author of Tiernos suspiros apologizes for cutting short his description of the catafalque and instead refers the reader to the engraved plate (“cuya descripcion puntual se omite, porque de él da la lamina bastante idea,” p. 28). The catafalque was unveiled to the public on November 11, 1746 in another day filled with solemn remembrance and prayer. The second half of Tiernos suspiros (pp. 47-92) comprises the funeral oration of Don Bruno Lozano, primary canon of the Royal Chapel, which he read before the congregation gathered around the catafalque on November 12, 1746. Inspired by a quote from the Book of Revelation (chapter 6, verse 2), “Data est ei corona, et exivit vincens, ut vinceret” (“…and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer”), Lozano honors the life and virtues of his patron, King Philip, “the honor of France, the glory of Spain, the envy of all of Europe, the zeal of religion, the father of the law, the example of rectitude, the caretaker of piety, the credit to modesty, humility, and all manner of virtue.” Demandre’s catafalque, highly praised in Tiernos suspiros and in Don Lozano’s funeral oration, led to more prestigious royal appointments and commissions: in 1754 he was appointed director of the sculpture works at the Royal Palace of La Granja, and in 1759 he was named academician of merit for architecture. At La Granja, Demandre created the fountain of the baths of Diana (in collaboration with Bousseau), two nymph statues, and the cenotaph of Philip V and his wife, Isabel Farnese (1692-1766). Other works credited to Demandre include a relief on the taking of Toledo in the Palacio Real Nuevo, a relief on the fable of Pygmalion, and several statues at the cathedral of Segovia. José Andrade (d. 1776), who engraved the single plate in Tiernos suspiros, also executed plates for several books published in the 1740s-1770s as well as religious prints, shields, vignettes and portraits. Philip V’s total reign (45 years and 26 days) is the longest in the history of the Spanish monarchy. The accession of Philip V, grandson of Louis XIV of France, provoked the thirteen-year War of the Spanish Succession, which continued until the Treaty of Utrecht forbade any future possibility of unifying the French and Spanish crowns while affirming Philip’s elevation to the throne of Spain. * No U.S. copy.
Price: $3,500.00