Details

Subjects:

Voltaire, 1694-1778. Henriade.
Natural history -- South America.
Natural history.
Miscegenation.
Indians of South America.
Horsemanship.
South America.
Horsemanship -- South America -- Early works to 1800.
Indians of South America -- Early works to 1800.
Guarani language.
Guarani Indians.
Women -- Latin America -- History.
Women.
Latin America.
History.
Miscegenation -- Latin America.
Río de la Plata (Viceroyalty) -- Social life and customs.
Río de la Plata (Viceroyalty) -- History.
Cádiz (Spain) -- History.

Form/Genre:

Codices.
Manuscripts, Spanish.
Manuscripts, European.

Language:

Spanish with numerous passages in Latin and occasional words in Guarani.

Summary:

Collection of copied letters by various authors written in the mid-18th century, loosely related to the topic of the Río de la Plata region of South America. Although the documents do share this common theme, a large part of the text is devoted to tangential digressions which include themes in philosophy, theology, religion, morality, poetry, geometry, physics, astronomy, and etymology. However, the first three letters (f.1r-345v), which make up the majority of the text, do contain significant information on the plants, animals, people, and customs of the Río de la Plata region in the 18th century. These three letters are written by a certain Juan de la Cerda, apparently of Andalusian origin but writing from what he refers to loosely as the "country of Buenos Aires." He only identifies the recipient as "Marqués." The first of these three letters gives a detailed account of the horses, horsemen and horsewomen, and horsemanship of the region. The author elaborates on the legend of the Cave of Salamanca and its transfer to South America. The legend holds that certain horsemen make deals with the devil in order to gain mastery over even the most ferocious horses. However, due to the irregular binding of the manuscript the letter is split into three discontinuous sections (f.1r-3v, 18v-32v, 4r-6v). The second letter is also divided (f.9r-17v, 33r-130r) and covers the livestock of the region, certain plants and other animals, local gastronomy, and the indigenous tribes of the Guarani, Charrua, Güenoa, Puelche, Huao, and Tehuelche. This letter is peppered with numerous poems and adages, as well as passages in Latin. The author devotes a great deal of attention to Issac Newton, Descartes, Voltaire, Leibniz, and Benito Jerónimo Feijoo, but also makes frequent references to other famous thinkers such as Empedocles, Democritus, Tycho Brahe, Copernicus, Pythagoras, Plato, and Epicurus. Many other authors and scholars are mentioned in passing. The third letter, which is referred to in the manuscript as the second letter (f.131r), purports to relate the particularities of South America but the title also admits that it does so with "frequent digressions into varied literature." This letter contains information on society in the Río de la Plata region, especially as it relates to the European woman's position and character in relation to the slaves and Indians. There are also long discussions on race, skin color, and the terminology used to describe the various races. This letters also contains an interesting comment on vampire bats, which the masses apparently believed was a "bird of the devil." The author relates the role of the bat in certain Guarani customs and includes phrases in Guarani with translations in Spanish. There is also a particularly interesting discussion of the origin of the word aji, which is a hot pepper native to the region and ubiquitous in South American cuisine. The author then returns to a lengthy discussion of racial mixing based on his personal observations. Of the tangential themes discussed in these three letters, the most attention is given to the conflict between philosophy and religion. The third letter is followed by a postscript in which the author comments on his promise to the recipient to translate the Henriade of Voltaire. He explains that he will translate and include one canto at the end of every letter he writes. He then discusses some themes related to Virgil's Aeneid in particular and to poetry in general. Although his translation of Voltaire's work is not included in the manuscript, the postscript is followed by the author's notes on the first canto. This is followed by three "additions" to the letters. The first is a discussion of the birthplace of Saint Laurence of Rome. The second addition explains the method by which the Guarani derive generic names for animals. The third addition concerns the "drunkenness of the Indians." These three additions are followed by four more (much shorter) letters by different authors. The first letter is a report of an expedition from Buenos Aires to the province of Misiones to combat the Guarani Indians. It is written by Raphael de Córdoba and dated 1756. The second letter is also written by Raphael de Córdoba, but is dated from 1764. The author is now identified as a Jesuit and the rector to the Colegio de Cádiz. In this letter he comments on the practice of using "espalmo," a type of tar, to treat the hulls of ships in Cádiz. The recipient of the letter is identified as the Marqués de Villaformada. The third letter, written by a certain Marqués de Casinas, in Madrid, 1765, is an outline of the author's plan for modernizing the sewage, streets, and transport in the city of Cádiz. The fourth letter is neither signed nor dated but is an argument against the Marqués de Casisnas' plan.

Contents:

1. f.1r-130r: [Cartas escritas al Marqués, un caballero de Códoba, de Juan de la Cerda, sobre la America Meridional] / Juan de la Cerda.
2. f.131r-345v: Carta segunda al Marqués sobre usos y particularidades dela America Meridional, con frecuentes digressiones en varia literatura / Juan de la Cerda.
3. f.347r-351v: Notas del traductor sobre el canto primero / Juan de la Cerda.
4. f.353r-353v: Addicion primera a la carta sobre la patria de San Lorenzo / Juan de la Cerda.
5. f.353v-358v: Addicion segunda sobre la propriedad con que los Guaranis imponen los nombres alos animales / Juan de la Cerda.
6. f.359r-363r: Addicion tercera sobre la embriaguez de los indios / Juan de la Cerda.
7. f.364r-365v: Carta del padre Raphael de Cordoba segundo comisario dela expedicion delos Guaranis / Raphael de Córdoba.
8. f.366r-366v: Dictamen del reverendo padre Raphael de Cordova, religioso professo dela Compañia de Jesus y rector de este collegio dela ciudad de Cadiz / Raphael de Córdoba.
9. f.368r-369v: [Carta del Marqués de Casinas sobre su proyecto para Cádiz] / Marqués de Casinas.
10. f.370r-374v: [Dictamen contra el proyecto del marqués de Casinas]

Notes:

Ms. codex.
Title supplied by cataloger based on title of first letter (f. 1r).
Foliation: Paper, i + 376 + i; [i, 1-375]; modern foliation in pencil, upper right recto.
Layout: Written in 21-24 long lines.
Script: Written in a cursive script by multiple hands.
Watermark: Unidentified circle watermark with a cross issuing from the upper circle, four initials in the middle circle, possibly S N D B, and two initials in the lower circle, possibly P N; unidentified six-pointed star watermark; unidentified bull and picador watermarks appearing with the names Fabiani, Rogadiero, and Ver; unidentified watermark consisting of a cross inside a crowned oval flanked by two rampant animals, possibly griffins, with two circles underneath, the upper circle containing the initials P P, and the lower circle containing what appears to be the numeral 2.
Binding: Previously bound in contemporary calf, rebacked (Zacour-Hirsch).
Origin: Probably written in Spain in the late 18th century.

Penn Provenance:

Formerly owned by Henry Charles Lea (bookplate, inside upper cover).

Cited in:

Described in Zacour, Norman P. and Hirsch, Rudolf. Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Libraries of the University of Pennsylvania to 1800 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1965), p. 185 (Ms. Lea 190).

Cited as:

UPenn Ms. Codex 1442

Contributor:

Lea, Henry Charles, 1825-1909, former owner.

Contains:

Córdoba, Raphael de.
Casinas, marqués de.
Villaformada, marqués de, addressee.

OCLC:

313418326