Senate House Library's printed special collections comprise printed books, pamphlets, periodicals and maps within 50 named collections.
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Eliot-Phelips Collection
Described by The Times as the best collection of its type outside Spain
The Collection
Subject: History
The collection comprises approximately 3,500 items printed in or relating to Spain between the early sixteenth and the early twentieth centuries, relating especially to the social and economic history and urban development of Madrid. Alongside street directories, guides and histories, these include proclamations, laws, early newsletters, city ordinances, regulations of guilds and financial and other institutions, proposals for public works, plans, maps, and prints. Detailed proposals for improving the water supply to Madrid constitute a special sub-category.
Well over half of the printed material dates from before 1830. It indicates both early Spanish book production and books printed abroad for the Spanish market, primarily in Antwerp, Venice, and Amsterdam. Subjects range from treatises on accounting, astronomy, handwriting, and cookery, to books of chivalric romances and love poetry, dictionaries of the Castilian language, almanacs, collections of emblems, riddles, and humorous anecdotes, chapbooks, and popular tracts.
The collection was formed by William Robert Phelips (1846-1919), Deputy Lieutenant, and his son Edward Frederick Phelips (1882-1928) of Montacute, Somerset and bequeathed to the Guildhall Library, Corporation of London. It was placed in Senate House Library as a permanent loan in 1950 and converted to a gift in 2019. Previous owners of specific books include the Spanish statesman, Canovas del Castillo, Queen María Cristina of Spain, the Duke of Medina de las Torres, José Antonio Conde (Royal Librarian under Joseph Bonaparte), Lord Clarendon (British minister in Spain, 1833-39), and the noted collectors and bibliophiles William Fuller Maitland, Alfred and Henry Huth, Vicente Salvá, and Ricardo Heredia y Livermore.
From The Collection
Roberto de Nola, Libro de Cozina (1525)
Sebastián de Granadilla, Aqui comiença vna obra (1607)
Pedro Salazar de Mendoza, Cronica de el gran cardenal de España (1625)
Tomás Lopez de Vargas y Machuca, Descripcion de la provincia de Madrid (1763)
Collection highlights
The collection is particularly strong in material reflecting the social and economic history and urban development of Madrid, from the 16th century up to the early years of this century; it includes ‘prematicas’, laws, city ordinances, regulations of guilds, charities, montepios, etc., proposals for public works, plans, maps, street directories, guides, and histories. A special sub-category consists of a number of detailed proposals for improving the water supply to Madrid.
Sanchez, Manuel Isidoro
Madrid en la mano. : Noticia cierta de las Calles, y Plazuelas de esta Coronada Villa de Madrid, sus Parroquias, Conventos, Colegios, Hospitales, Hermitas, los sitios donde cada una està, y las Jurisdiciones à que estàn sujetas estas, &c… En Madrid : en la Oficina de Manuel Martin, Calle de la Cruz…Se hallara en esta misma Oficina; en la Librerìa de Gabrièl Mas…y en la de Joseph Mathias Escribano…, Año de 1763. – 168p ; 12cm (12mo in 12s).
Includes directories of trades, professions, and public offices, addresses of the offices of guilds and other professional bodies, lists of legal tender coins, and legal requirements for entry into the professions.
Spain. Sovereign (1788-1808 : Charles IV)
Instruccion que manda el consejo se observe para apagar y cortar los incendios que ocurran en Madrid. En Madrid : En la Imprenta de Don Pedro Marin, Año de 1789. – 19 p ; 27cm (fol).
Planning regulations intended to prevent or contain fires in Madrid; the Eliot-Phelips Collection includes two contemporary engravings of the major fire of 1790.
Martínez de la Torre, Fausto
Plano de la villa y corte de Madrid : en sesenta y quatro láminas, que demuestran otros tantos barrios en que está dividida; con los nombres de todas sus plazuelas y calles, números de las manzanas, y casas que comprehenden cada uno; con otras curiosidades útiles á los naturales y forasteros… / por D. Fausto Martinez de la Torre, y D. Josef Asensio. – Nueva edición, corregida y aumentada con un Indice alfabético de los nombres de todas las Plazuelas y Calles, Parroquías, Conventos y demas Edificios públicos…y por último con Mapa del Plano general de Madrid…. Madrid : en la imprenta de Don Joseph Doblado, 1800. – 115 p., 64, [1] leaves of plates (1 folded) ; 15 cm (8vo).
Contains detailed street maps, with an ‘alphabetical index of the names of all the squares and streets, parish churches, convents and other public buildings’.
Several bound volumes of early newsletters and similar documents have been discovered. One contains a comprehensive set of bulletins printed in Seville recording the visit of Charles I when Prince of Wales to Madrid in 1623, accompanied by the Duke of Buckingham, in pursuit of a Spanish marriage. Another volume contains over two dozen proclamations and ‘bandos’ published during the year 1808 by the Bourbon and Napoleonic authorities. Several 17th-century ‘gazetas’ unrecorded in Palau y Dulcet’s Manual del librero hispano-americano (Barcelona, 1948, etc.) have also been identified.
Verdadera relacion de la entrada de el Principe Don Carlos de Inglaterra, en la Corte de Madrid, : Viernes diez y siete de Março. Este año 1623. [Seville] : por Francisco de Lyra, [1623]. – [4]p ; 30cm (fol.). At foot of t.p.: Impresso en Madrid, y por su original, co[n] licencia del señor Oydor Veas Bellon, por Francisco de Lyra.
Describes the unexpected arrival, late at night, at the house of the British Ambassador in Madrid, of the Duke of Buckingham and the Prince of Wales, later Charles I. The aim of the visit, ultimately unsuccessful, was to negotiate a Spanish bride for the Prince. The place of publication given in the imprint is erroneous; Francisco de Lyra was a Sevillan printer, who seems to have copied the text of an original printed in Madrid
Guia de forasteros para el año de 1865. Madrid : Imprenta Nacional, 1864.
Bound in purple velvet, gold-tooled with a panel design incorporating the royal coat-of-arms; gold-tooled spine, lettered: Guia 1865; edges of text-block gilded; white endpapers imitating watered silk; cream silk hinges to endpapers. Within an open-ended cover of green leather over wooden boards and spine; remains of green ribbon ties. Cover (not shown here) is gold-tooled on front : Guia 1865; blind-tooled on back with a different coat-of-arms from that on the binding; spine blind-tooled with a gothic design, and gilt-lettered: Guia 1865 >[Provisional description; for further information refer to library staff.]
Kalendario manual, y guía de forasteros en Madrid, para el año de 1794. Madrid : En la Imprenta Real, [1793].
Bound in cream-coloured calf, gold-tooled, inset with monochrome neo-classical vignettes covered with transparent film; spine of alternate red and green panels, gold-tooled with fleurons; edges of text-block gilded; pale blue watered silk endpapers; blue placemark ribbon.
Jacobus Philippus, Bergomensis, 1434-1520
Suma de todas las cronicas del mundo : llamado en latin Suplementu[m] cronica[rum].[Valencia : Gorge Costilla, 1510]. – ccccxlvi [i.e. 444], [10] leaves : ill ; 28cm (fol (in 8s)).
Colophon: A onor y gloria de nuestro señor Ihesu cristo. y de la gloriosa v[ir]gen Maria madre suya fue emprentado el presente Librollamado Supleme[n]to de todas las Cro[n]icas del mundo: enla metropolitana cibdad de Valencia: por Gorge Costilla. y muy dilige[n]temente []prouado: traduzido de le[n]gua Latina y Toscana en esta Castellana: por Narcis Viñolas; con priuile [here misplaced line] … Acabose a .xi. dias de Seti[m]bre enel año de n[uest]ra salud. Mill. d.x. –
Second state described by Norton, with vertical borders on verso of title-page, and error in colophon. ( Norton, F.J. Descriptive catalogue of printing in Spain and Portugal, 1501-1520. 1225B.)
Mexía, Pedro, 1496?-1552?
Los dialogos o Coloquios del Magnifico cauallero Pero Mexia Coronista de su M[agestad]. nueuame[n]te corregidos por el, y añedido vn excele[n]te tratado de Ysocrates philosofo llamado parenesis o exortacion a virtud. Enla muy noble y muy leal Ciudad de Seuilla : por Dominico de Robertis, 1548. – xc [i.e. cxc] leaves ; 15cm (8vo).
Essays modelled on the Colloquies of Erasmus. Mexía was a historian, poet and teacher.
Castillo, Diego del
Tratado de cuentas / hecho por el licenciado Diego del Castillo…en el qual se contiene que cosa es cue[n]t: y a quie[n]: y como an de dar la cuenta los tutores: y otros administradores de bienes ajenos. Obra muy necessaria y provechosa. La qual el hizo en latin: y assi la presento al Rey nuestro señor. Y…por su mandado la traslado en nuestra lengua Castellana. En Salamanca : por Juan de junta impressor de libros, 1542. – 28 leaves ; 20 cm. (4to).
A treatise of accountancy and book-keeping. Originally composed in Latin, it was published in a Spanish version at the request of the King, the Emperor Charles V.
Items for the Spanish Book Trade Printed Abroad">There are several examples of books printed abroad for the Spanish market, primarily in Antwerp, Venice, and Amsterdam.
Rojas, Fernando de, d.1541
Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea: en la qual se co[n]tiene de mas de su agradable y dulce estilo: muchas sente[n]cias filosofales: y avisos muy necessarios para ma[n]cebos: mostra[n]doles los engaños q[ue] esta[n] encerrados en seruientes y alcahuetas: y nueuame[n]te añadido el tractado de Le[n]turio. Venecia : Juan Batista Pedrezano, 1531. – [213] p : ill ; 16 cm (8vo).
?17th-century panel stamped binding, gold-tooled on dark brown morocco leather over boards; blind-tooled spine with three raised gold-tooled bands. In modern slipcase.
Cancionero de romances en que estan recopilados la mayor parte de los Romances Castellanos que hasta agora se han compuesto. En Anvers : En casa de Philippo Nucio, 1568. – 300 leaves ; 13 cm (12mo).
Armorial bookplate of William Fuller Maitland of Stansted Hall on inside front cover. – Bound in purple morocco, with gold-tooled centre-piece and gold-tooled spine with five raised bands; gold-tooled inner edges of boards; text-block edges gilded; marbled endpapers.
La Marche, Olivier de, ca. 1426-1502
El cavallero determinado : traduzido de lengua francesa en castellana / Por Don Hernando de Acuña. En Anveres : En l’Oficina Plantiniana, Cerca la Biuda, y Iuan Moreto, 1591. – [32],208,[8] p : illus ; 20 cm (8vo).
Reputedly based on a Spanish prose translation composed by the Emperor Charles V, which was then versified by Hernando de Acuña. The engravings are by Peter van der Borcht.
Many items are illustrated or decorated with woodcuts, copper- or steel engravings, or lithographs, some coloured. A bound set of A. Rodriguez’s Colección general de los trages que en la actualidad se usan en España (Madrid, 1801), is one of the most comprehensive recorded, and there are also several unbound prints, including contemporary representations of the great fires of Madrid of 1631 and 1790. Some volumes contain well-preserved functioning volvelles.
Rodríguez, A (Antonio), 1765-ca.1824
Colección general de los trages que en la actualidad se usan en España: principiada en el año 1801. En Madrid : Se hallará en las Librerías de Castillo frente á las Gradas de Sn.Felipe, y de la Viuda de Cerro red de Sn.Luis, [1801]. – [1]112+ leaves of plates ; 17.5cm (8vo).
Hand-coloured engraved plates drawn by A.Rodríguez; engraved by Rodríguez, Vazquez, Martí, Albuerne, mounted on guards. The caption to the lefthand illustration is: Malditos perros Yngleses…Trapero [Cursed English dogs…Secondhand clothes dealer]. The caption to the righthand illustration is: Ay, que mimo!…Baylarina Bolera [How charming!…Bolero dancer].
Apian, Peter, 1495-1552
Libro dela cosmographia de Pedro Apiano, : el qual trata la descripcion del mundo, y sus partes, por muy claro y lindo artificio, augme[n]tado por el doctissimo varon Gemma Frisio, doctor en medecina, y mathematico excellentissimo: con otros dos libros del dicho Gemma, de la materia mesma. Agora nueuame[n]te traduzidos en Roma[n]ce Castellano. Vendese en Enveres : en casa de Gregorio Bontio …, 1548. – [2], 68, [2] leaves, [1] leaf of plates, volvelles : ill, diagrs, 1map, tables; 24cm (4to).
Woodcut illustrations include four functioning volvelles.
Andrés, Juan, of Saragossa
Sumario breue d[e]la pratica dela arithmetica d[e] todo el curso de larte marca[n]tiuol bien declarado: : el qual se llama maestro de cuento. Valencia : por Iuan Ioffre, 1515. – 144 leaves ; 21cm (4to in 8s).
Illustrations show the colophon and a woodcut table of finger signs for numbers from 1 to 9000.
Several rare or previously unrecorded broadsides, chapbooks and popular tracts have been catalogued so far, including some formerly in the Huth Collection.
Relacion de como el pexe Nicolao agora se ha aparececido [sic] de nueuo en la mar, y hablò con muchos Marineros, en differentes partes, y de las grandes marauillas que les contò de secretos importantes a la nauegacion. : Este pexe Nicolao es medio hombre, y medio pescado, cuya figura es esta que aqui va retratada. Impressa con licencia, En Salemanca [sic] : en casa de Antonia Ramirez, viuda, Año 1608. – [8]p ; 19 cm (4to).
Includes a woodcut representation of a merman.
[Ten commandments. Spanish]
Aqui comiença vna obra, vtil y prouechosa para todos, de los Mandamientos. / Agora nueuamente hecha, por vn deuoto de Iesu Christo. Impressas con licencia, en Alcala de Henares : en casa de Iuan Gracian quesea en gloria, Año 1607. – [4] leaves ; 19cm (4to).
ULL copy has pasted on inside of front board a slip cut from a bookseller’s catalogue describing this copy and noting that this edition is not recorded in any standard bibliographies such as Brunet, the BM Catalogue, Salva, etc. . Huth Museum ticket on inside front board.
Thomas, de los Angeles
Relacion muy verdadera, nueva quanto placentera, que ha sucedido este año de seys cientos y ocho en la Ciudad de Iaen: : la qual declara los enredos que hizo vna muger, dexando burladas à siete personas, y quitando les por muy gracioso estilo muchos ducados, sin perder de su honor: esto y otras muchas cosas se van aqui declarando de mucho passa tiempo, que daràn gusto a todos los oyentes: Lleva al cabo vnas Seguidillas de la mamola. / Co[m]puesta por Thomas de los Angeles. Impressa con licencicia[sic] en Valladolid : en casa de Andres de Merchan que sea en gloria, Año de 1608. – [4] leaves ; 19cm (4to).
An account of the activities of a female confidence trickster.
Earlier former owners include the Spanish statesman, Canovas del Castillo, Queen María Cristina of Spain, the Duke of Medina de las Torres, José Antonio Conde (Royal Librarian under Joseph Bonaparte), Lord Clarendon (British minister in Spain, 1833-39), and the noted collectors and bibliophiles William Fuller Maitland, Vicente Salvá, and Ricardo Heredia y Livermore.
San Felipe, Vicente Bacallar y Sanna, marqués de, 1669-1727
Comentarios de la guerra de España, : e historia de su rey Phelipe V. el animoso, desde principio de su reynado, hasta la paz general de año de 1725 / por don Vicente Bacallar y Sanna, Marquès de San Phelipe…. – [Corr. ed.]. En Genova : por Matheo Garvizza, [1725?]. – 2 v. ([6], 346; 336 p.) ; 20 cm (4to).
Ms inscription reads: Robert Southey, Esq. in token of respect and regard. Mahon [i.e. Philip Henry Mahon, 5th Earl Stanhope] Oct[obe]r 1832. In the same year Stanhope published The history of the war of succession in Spain, 1702-1714,.
Nola, Roberto de
Libro de cozina . Toledo : por Ramon de Petras: a costas y despensas de Diego Perez Dauila, [1525]. – lxxi, [3]leaves ; 21cm (4to).
An early cookery book. Bound in full calf gilt, with inlays and onlays, in green, tan, black and red, figure of a chef in lozenge on upper cover, of a waiter on lower cover; blue silk doublures. The modern binding, which is unsigned, may have been commissioned by Edward Phelips.
Perez de Hita, Ginés, 1544?-1619?
Historia de los vandos de los zegries y abencerrages cavalleros moros de Granada, : de las ciuiles guerras que vuo en ella, y batallas particulares que vuo en la Vega entre Moros y Christianos, hasta que el Rey Don Fernando Quinto la ganò. En Barcelona : En la Emprenta de Sebastian Mateuad, y Lorenço Déu. A costa de Geronymo Genoues, año 1610. – [4], 283, [1] leaves ; 16cm(8vo).
A history of the Moorish Kingdom of Granada, purportedly based on Arabic texts. Influenced Calderon and Chateaubriand, amongst others. With the bookplate of William Fuller Maitland of Stansted Hall. Maitland was also a noted art collector, some of whose paintings were bought after his death by the National Gallery.
Olmo, Josep Vicente de, 1611-1696
Relacion historica del auto general de fe, que se celebro en Madrid este año de 1680. : con assistencia del rey N.S. Carlos II. y de las Magestades de la reina N.S. y la augustissima reina madre. Siendo Inquisidor General el excelentmo. Sr. D. Diego Sarmiento de Valladares… con…el sumario de las sentencias de los reos …/ por Ioseph del Olmo. [Madrid] : Vendese en casa de Marcos de Ondatigui, Familiar del Santo Oficio, à la Plateria, junto à San Salvador. Impresso por Roque Rico de Miranda, Año 1680. – [30], 308 p., [2] leaves of plates
Describes a public trial of heretics and lapsed Catholics, and contains biographical details and physical descriptions of the accused, together with details of their sentences. A former owner (possibly in the 18th century) has added copious marginal notes hostile to the Inquisition throughout the text.
Access
For an overview of the library, do a mixed classmark search on [E.P.]. Most material is held off-site and requires 48 hours (excluding weekends) to be fetched.
Related materials
- MSS326-79, manuscripts from the Eliot-Phelips library
- Eliot-Phelips Collection accession register (UoL/UL/5/7/1)
- exhibition catalogue, 1998 (UoL/UL/13/9)
Further reading
- Escrig-Gimenez, Mercedes, ‘An Approach to the Eliot-Phelips Collection: The Significance of the 16th and 17th Century Scientific Books for the History of Printing in Spain’ (unpublished master’s thesis, University of London, 1998)
- Noble, P.E., ‘Edward Phelips and the Eliot-Phelips Collection’, in Grandeurs of Spain: the Eliot-Phelips Collection in the University of London Library. Journal of the Institute of Romance Studies (1999), 13–20
- Entry 17 in Senate House Library, University of London, ed. by Christopher Pressler and Karen Attar (London: Scala, 2012)
