By Mexican female printer Paula de Benavides, a very rare copy

Juan de la Torre y Castro.

Oracion evangelica con que la doctissima Real Universidad de Mexico, en 20 de enero de 1655 celebro en su capilla assistieronla señores duques de Alburqueque.

Mexico City, por Paula de Benavides, viuda de Bernardo Calderón, 1655.

4°. [5], 15 ll.

With a woodcut coat-of-arms and very attractive woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces.

Contemporary vellum.

A very rare copy of a religious work regarding the Royal University of Mexico, by renowned female printer Paula de Benavides, no copies recorded outside Mexico (see Iberian Books). Paula de Benavides and her husband Bernardo Calderón began printing books and pamphlets in Mexico City in 1631; widowed with six children, she took over the business in 1641. Between 1640 and 1684, she ran one of the most successful printing workshops and bookshops in Ciudad de México. Books with her impressum are rarely seen on the market today. She created a printing and bookselling dynasty that persisted for three generations after her death. Daughters, daughters-in-law, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters continued printing using the Benavides name. Recent study of her biography and her performance as a printer and bookseller reframes the idea of her widowhood and exposes her as an active, enterprising and successful woman (see Montiel Ontiveros).

Condition: binding worn and slightly stained. Lacking free endpapers. Paper frayed, no loss of text. Faded staining throughout. Contents in good condition.

Reference: IB, no. 129390; Medina, Mexico 823; Palau 335549. One in OCLC and none traced at auction.

Literature:

Ana Cecilia Montiel Ontiveros, Beltrán Cabrera, Luz del Carmen. “Paula de Benavides: Impresora del siglo XVII. El inicio de un linaje”. In: Contribuciones desde Coatepec 2010 (10), pp. 103-115.