This manuscript from the Ets Haim Library - Livraria
Montezinos at the Portuguese Synagogue has recently been identified
as the earliest, and previously unknown, Spanish translation of
Erasmus's Praise of Folly, originally published in Latin in 1511.
The discovery was made by Dutch Hispanist Prof. dr. Harm de Boer
and his Spanish colleague Dr. Jorge Ledo.
What makes this find so exceptional is that The Praise of Folly
(Moriae encomium) and other works by Erasmus were placed on the
Spanish Inquisition's index of banned books in 1559. Not until
1842, when the Inquisition was finally abolished, did the first
Spanish translation appear
in print.
Erasmus's ideas were received with great enthusiasm in the Spain
of Charles V but became tainted by association after Luther broke
with the Catholic Church in 1517. There has been much speculation
about the existence of early Spanish translations of The Praise of
Folly, which are said to have left their mark on the well-known
picaresque novel Lazarillo de Tormes (1554) and Cervantes's Don
Quijote de la Mancha (1605). But no hard evidence was
ever available until now.
The discovery of this manuscript in Ets Haim is especially
significant because of the historical background of the Portuguese
Jewish Community. This Sephardic community was founded in the
Netherlands by Jews from Spain and Portugal's persecuted 'New
Christian' minority (converted Jews and their descendants).
Although Erasmus had little sympathy for Jews, his views on
simplicity and inner piety were very influential among the New
Christians.
As yet, it remains unclear how the manuscript found its way to the
library. The text is written on paper in a characteristic
seventeenth-century Iberian hand and bound in a simple vellum
quarto. However, its linguistic features seem to suggest that it is
based on a sixteenth-century text, which must be assumed to have
been lost.
For information and/or images
, please contact:
Moncef Beekhof, head Marketing & Communication
Department
T +31 (0)20 5 310 371
E Moncef Beekhof