Copia de la carta que el Obispo de Arequipa . . . provando la certeza que tiene, el aver sido la Virgen concebida sin pecado original
Author: Agustino Pedro Perea (1565-1630)
Year: 1629
Publisher: Jerónimo de Contreras
Place: Lima
Description:
[47]+259+[36] pages and a colophon leaf not called for in Medina or Palau. Spanish text with Latin quotations. Small quarto (8" x 6") bound in contemporary vellum with hand lettering to spine. (Medina, Lima 137 (citing only the Biblioteca Medina copy); Palau 218288; Sabin 60877 ) First edition.
A theological work by the Bishop of Arequipa.
Fray Pedro Perea OSA (La Rioja 1619-Lima 1630) was the first bishop who actually entered the city and governed the new diocese of Arequipa. He was born in Briones (La Rioja, Spain) ; he entered the Order of Saint Augustine; he studied at the University of Salamanca, where he obtained a master's degree in theology. Appointed by Paulo V, he was recommended in 1617 and took possession of his seat in Arequipa on August 1, 1619, the same year in which he erected the cathedral and founded the Seminary of San Jerónimo. In addition, the erection of a special parish for the indigenous takes place, the realization of the general visit of the diocese in which he confirmed more than 10,000 people in the city and its surroundings, and divided some doctrines. The historian P. Enrique Fernández will say of him that "reveals his talent, but little discretion, the letter he wrote to Felipe III in April 1619 with some strange idea". He reported in 1623 "that in the diocese there were 54 doctrines, of which 14 were run by regulars, and that he issued an order closing the convents with less than eight members, such as the one in Camaná, which only had one or two, and the from Arica with four religious, both Mercedarians". He thought that the doctrines attended by regulars should pass to the diocesan clergy as a solution to the problem of their exemption from paying tithes. His letter to Philip IV is also famous, consisting of a solid treatise on the certainty of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary, which he had printed in Lima in 1629, and which is preceded by a beautiful writing by the famous Augustinian chronicler P. Antonio de la Calancha
As early as 1621 Jeronimo de Contreras, who had been a printer in Seville, appeared as the publisher of new-sheets; and for the net hundred years he and members of his family were the leading printers of Lima. His son Jose de Contreras, succeeded him in 1641 and continued his business until 1688. Two years before this date, in 1686, Jose de Contreras a grandson of the founder of the house organized an independent printing establishment, which held a practical monopoly of printing in Lima until 1712. The printing of books for primary instruction in the local schools brought to the head of this new establishment considerable profits, and b a decree of the crown Jose de Contreras acquired the title of Royal Printer. The Inquisition, the University of San Marcos and various other institutions resorted to his press for the printing required. After the death of the Royal Printer his brother, Jeronimo de Contreras, carried on the business for a number of years, and the establishment maintained itself without essential change or character until 1779.
Condition:
Minor wear; lacking front free endpaper, minor foxing and minimal dampstaining, lacking ties, marca de fuego on top edge, and early inscription on title page. else very good. Sabin 60877 ("a work of the greatest rarity") 4 copies in OCLC.
