Spain's Eighteenth-Century Periodical Press
Antonio Valladares de Sotomayor and the Semanario Erudito
Author(s) Madeline Sutherland-Meier
Language: English
Genre(s): Literary Criticism, History
Series: Iberian and Latin American Studies
- March 2025 · 288 pages ·216x138mm
- · Hardback - 9781837722075
- · eBook - pdf - 9781837722082
- · eBook - epub - 9781837722099
About The Book
This is the first monographic study of the Semanario Erudito, one of the most important of the erudite periodicals published in late eighteenth-century Spain. The goal of its editor, Antonio Valladares de Sotomayor (1737–1820), was to recover the history of Spain and make it available to his readers for them to learn, and learn from. The book begins with a discussion of Valladares’s life and works, before presenting the history of his periodical – specifically, the process of requesting permission to publish it, who printed it, who sold it, and who read it. Documents from Spain’s Archivo Histórico Nacional illuminate the censorship process undertaken by each work he wished to publish. The documents also show that the censors’ concerns were often not ideological, and that they worked to facilitate the publication of documents they considered valuable but problematic. The second half of the book examines what Valladares published, and his reasons for doing so.
Contents
Part IValladares and the Semanario Erudito
The Life and Works of Antonio Valladares de Sotomayor
Early Years, Early Works
Writing for the Theatre
A Temporary Stay in Osuna
The Economics of Writing and the Move to Editing
Hard Times in the 1790s
The Peninsular War and a Return to the Theatre
1818: An Investigation by the Inquisition and an Appeal to the King
Final Years and Final Projects
The Semanario Erudito
The Early History of the Semanario Erudito
The Prospecto
Valladares and Antonio de Sancha: Publishers with a Common Purpose
The Publication and Distribution of the Semanario Erudito
The Decree of 1791 and After
1816: The Nuevo Semanario Erudito
The Law, the Censors, the Consejo de Castilla and the Semanario Erudito
Laws Regulating the Periodical Press in the Eighteenth Century
The Censors
The Censors’ Recommendations and the Consejo’s Decisions
April 1788: A Contretemps with the Authorities
Conclusions: The Role of the Censors, a Confluence of Interests
Part IIRecovering the History of Spain
Introduction: Examining Valladares’s Archive
Assembling the Archive
What Did the Archive Contain?
Recovering the History of the Seventeenth Century
Introduction
Eye-Witness Reporting: Quevedo, Almansa y Mendoza, Pellicer de Tovar
The Spanish Monarchy: Palafox’s ‘Juicio interior’ and the Anonymous Memorias históricas de la monarquía de España
Royal Correspondence: Letters of the Conde Duque de Olivares, Queen Mariana, Don Juan de Austria and the Duque de Alba
Writings of the Arbitristas and the Proyectistas
The Arbitristas: Diagnosing and Curing Spain’s Ills
The Eighteenth-Century Heirs of the Arbitrista Tradition: The Proyectistas
Eighteenth-Century Writers: Martín Sarmiento, Andrés Burriel, Gregorio Mayans y Siscar
Writings by Padre Martín Sarmiento
Letters of Andrés Burriel
Gregorio Mayans y Siscar: Correspondence and Other Writings
Conclusion and Reflections