Ortúñez de Calahorra, Diego & Pedro de la Sierra.
Espejo de Principes y Caualleros.
[Valladolid: Diego Fernandez de Cordova, 1585-1586.]
Small folio, two parts in one volume, first title page printed in red and black with large woodcut of a mounted jousting knight within four-part decorative border, second title with large woodcut of a mounted knight in armor; some light browning, very occasional small spots, a few minor marginal repairs, lacking final ?blank; bound in red straight-grained morocco by Charles Lewis, with elaborate blindstamped corner and spine decoration, and the gilt-tooled arms of Edward Vernon Utterson (1776?-1856) on both boards, and his notes on ffep; ex libris Robert Stapylton with 17th century title inscription; sold at Sotheby's 19 April 1852, lot 727; ex libris Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872) Sotheby's 25 Nov. 1946, lot 113; 11 x 7 1/2 in.
This is the first edition to unite the first two parts of this Spanish romance. The first part, by Ortúñez, was first published in 1555, the second part, by Pedro de la Sierra in 1580, and parts three and four by Marcos Martinez, in 1587/8. The Espejo de Principes y Cavalleros was translated into English as The Mirrour of Knighthood, which influenced much English literature, including Spenser's Faerie Queene and Shakespeare's The Tempest. Utterson, a literary antiquary and original member of the Roxburgh Club, established a private press at Beldornie Tower, his home on the Isle of Wight. Utterson was particularly interested in English and Spanish romances, and published many himself.
Palau 82343; Brunet IV:246; D. Eisenberg, Castilian Romances of Chivalry in the Sixteenth Century, London: 1979, pp. 63-67.
From the Ken Rapoport Collection.
