Dechado de Principes Ecclesiasticos, Que Dibujo con Su Exemplar, Virtuosa, y Ajustada Vida el Illust. y Exc. Senor Doctor D. Manuel Fernandez de S. Cruz, y Sahagun..

Puebla, 1716. Good.. [32],431,[5]pp., plus etched plate. Quarto. Contemporary vellum wrappers, faded manuscript spine title. Wraps detached, marca de fuego at foot of text block. Contemporary ownership inscription on rear free endpaper recto. Bottom corner of Ff1 torn away, somewhat affecting text area. Moderate dampstaining and minor wear throughout. A detailed biography of Manuel Fernandez de Santa Cruz y Sahagun, Bishop of Puebla during the late 17th century. Santa Cruz was born in Palencia, Northern Spain, in 1637, and was made Bishop of Guadalajara in 1674 before taking up the same position in Puebla two years later, where he served until his death (truncated) in 1699. During that time, he evidently refused the positions of Archbishop of Mexico and Viceroy of New Spain. As bishop, Santa Cruz was very interested in the colonization of the northern borderlands, and organized expeditions of colonists from Puebla, and even accompanied one himself in 1675 that led to the first permanent settlement in Coahuila. He was also a proponent of the expansion and reform of convents across Mexico, and carried on an extensive correspondence with many nuns as their spiritual advisor, including Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz.

"This work includes a discussion of Bishop Fernandez's active support of education for women and the establishment of more institutions for women wishing to take the veil. Bishop Fernandez was involved in intellectual circles in Mexico and is famous for having engaged in polemics with America's first feminist, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz (1651-1695). Sor Juana named the Bishop as one of her confessors, and considered him her long-time friend. In 1690 she discussed with him her critique of a famous sermon given forty years earlier by the eminent Portuguese Jesuit, Antonio de Vieira. The Bishop was impressed with her argument and requested her to put her thoughts into writing. He then, without Sor Juana's knowledge, published her work, accompanied by his admonishment of her brazen engagement in intellectual matters" -- Sloan.

The author of the present work, Manuel de Torres, was a nephew of Sor Juana. The work includes an accomplished engraved portrait of Santa Cruz, and was printed by Manuela Cerezo ("la viuda de Miguel de Ortega y Bonilla"), one of, if not the first, widow printers in the city of Puebla. Some additional, very interesting woodcut illustrations are scattered throughout, including a full page woodcut on the recto of leaf Dd4 that carries a poem about Sor Juana and Santa Cruz. A marca de fuego at the base of the text block is similar in style those of institutions belonging to the Order of Mercy, but remains unidentified. OCLC notes copies at six U.S. institutions.
Medina, Puebla 283. Palau 337205. Sabin 96249. Sloan 23:552. (Inventory #: 5653)