Spain's Eighteenth-Century Periodical Press

Antonio Valladares de Sotomayor and the Semanario Erudito

By (author) Madeline Sutherland-Meier

Publication date:

Q1 2025

Length of book:

288 pages

Publisher

University of Wales Press

Dimensions:

216x138mm

ISBN-13: 9781837722075

BOOK DESCRIPTION
TABLE OF CONTENTS

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.

Part I Valladares 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 II Recovering 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