benito monfort, 1716 1785: a tentative list of holdings

BENITO MONFORT, 1716 1785: A TENTATIVE
LIST OF HOLDINGS IN THE REFERENCE
DIVISION OF THE BRITISH LIBRARY
H. G. WHITEHEAD
is the last of the three best-known printers in eighteenth-century
Spain to be considered in this series of articles.^ He is generally thought to be the most
gifted of a group of printers centred in Valencia and in a wider context he is regarded by
some as not much inferior to Ibarra himself.
Monfort, or, to give him his full name, Benito Monfort y Besades, was born in Valencia
in 1716, the son of Jose Monfort, a weaver, and Margarita Besades. He learned the
printing trade in the shop of Antonio Bordazar, where his contemporary, and founder of
another well-known Valencian printing firm, Jose de Orga, was manager.
In 1757, he set up on his own, calling himself'Impresor del Seminario de la Compaiiia
de Jesus'. His press was 'junto al Hospital de los Pobres Estudiantes', in the Calle del
Temple, now Salva, not far from the University. In April 1759, he petitioned the Town
Council to be allowed to describe himself as 'Impresor de la Ciudad', this situation having
become vacant on the death of Bordazar's widow. On this occasion, however, the petition
was unsuccessful, and the title went to Bordazar's son-in-law, Jose Tomas Santos. Finally,
in 1773, on the death of Santos, Monfort gained his long-coveted title of'Impresor de la
Ciudad'.
Monfort's first marriage was to Rosa Asensi, and there were three sons: Manuel
(1736-1806), Benito (d. 1788), and Ramon (d. 1806.?). The first-born was to become an
engraver of some renown, rising to become Director of Engraving at the Real Academia de
Bellas Artes de San Carlos. Later, in 1761, he was granted membership of the Madrid
Academia de San Fernando, and thereafter was frequently in Madrid. This probably
explains why, after his father's death, he had little direct, day-to-day influence on the
running of the press. He is now probably best remembered for the thirty-three engravings
he did for the Ibarra edition of Don Quijote, issued in 1771, and also for his artistic
direction of the production of the Ibarra Sallust in the following year.
The second son Benito took complete charge of the press, mainly because of his elder
brother's frequent absences, only for the brief period 1785 8. Details of the third brother
are almost non-existent, though it is known that he controlled the press for a period. Like
his eldest brother, he was an engraver.
In January 1761, Benito Monfort, the father, contracted a second marriage, with
Luisa Gomez, by whom he had five children, none of whom appears to have survived
BENITO MONFORT
51
beyond the age of twenty, and none of whom had anything to do with the running
of the press. Monfort died on 12 March 1785, a few months before his contemporary,
Ibarra.
The great care which Monfort exercised in his craft is shown almost from his earliest
productions. One calls to mind the 1764 edition of Carlos Ros, Dtccionario valencianocastellano, with its nicely designed title-page and charming engraved initials; the 1765
edition of Vives, Lntroduccion a la sabiduria, with its engraved title-page, and the outstanding 1770 edition of Luis de Leon's classic De los nombres de Cristo (in which the
epistle dedicatory, to D. Francisco Javier de Borbon, Infant of Spain, was written by the
printer himself). This edition has been described by Palau as the finest ever produced of
the work.-^
It was perhaps inevitable that during the course of his printing career, Monfort should
have been appointed official printer to many dignitaries and corporate bodies. Besides
being official printer to the Jesuits, the City and University of Valencia, other
appointments came from the Tribunal de Montesa, the Escuelas Pias, the Bishop of
Teruel, the Capitania General, the Real Audiencia, and the Real Academia de Bellas
Artes.
Amongst the outstanding works printed in this first period of the press were the Crdnica
de don Juan II (fig. i) and the Crdnica de los Reyes Catolicos (fig. 2), which appeared in 1779
and 1780 respectively.
The Crdnica de don Juan II is described by Updike^ as a 'readable folio', with good
presswork on excellent paper. But he criticised the title-page, perhaps unfairly, as a
Vretched mixture of shaded, decorated and plain roman capitals'. I say unfairly, because
the same criticism could no doubt be levelled by the purist at the edition of Luis de Leon
already described, and yet both editions have been highly praised as examples of
Monfort's work.
^
The 1780 Crdnica de los Reyes Catolicos, by contrast, has a much simpler title-page and
even better design and layout. There are copper plates, evidently Spanish in origin, and
the book, as a whole, has a typically Spanish 'old-style' appearance.
Menendez y Pelayo, whilst criticising the textual accuracy of both these chronicles, had
nothing but praise for their typography and printing, in his opinion some of the finest ever
seen in Spain.^
Perhaps Monfort's best production, certainly the one most cited as an example of his
work, is Perez Bayer: De numis hebraeo-samaritanis (figs. 3, 4) published as a large paper
quarto in 1781. The author was a revered figure in eighteenth-century scholarship and this
great work on Hebrew coins has been well handled by his printer. The type used was the
'texto' shown in Bordazar's Plantijicacidn,^ ^nd illustrated in Updike (vol. 2, pi. 222); the
latter also observes how beautifully the Latin displays these types, which are 'of severe
classical form and lighter in effect than most types used in Spain at that time. They have,
especially lines set in capitals, a noble "inscriptional" quality and all that Monfort had to
do to make a masterpiece was to stick to them!' The preliminaries have headpieces and
engraved initials of great charm, but Updike thought them out of place in a work of such
52
C Ra K I C A
DEL SENOll IIEY BON JU
SbC.l NIK) DU l.sTh NOMUKl-.
EN CASTILLA Y EN LEON,
FERN AN PEREZ
. •
1) E CUHM
C.ON LAS c a M K . A t l O N l S \ ' Sl.MIU ANZAS
JM-: iA>,s . S E S , O K I ; S R K V I:.S
DON ENRIQUE I I I . Y DON JUAN
V D i; (J I R U S
l'RiLADOS \' CABALLl.ROS DL: AQUhX
DEL
MIS MO AUTOR.
CORRKtilTJA , ENMENDADA , Y AlMCtOXADA
POR EL DOTOR LORESZO
CALINDEZ
Y AUMENTADA EN ESTA ULTIMA EDJCION
ALCUKAS K
EN VALENCIA:
1- N L A I M l ' K L N
l A D 1. Ii 1: N I ' t O Al O N 1-(.) K 1
Fig. I. Perez de Guzman, Crdnica del Senor Rey Don Juan Segundo (Valencia, 1779), title-page.
c n o N1 c A
lU
IOS MNOIllS
Rr\'lS
C.ATOl.U.CVS
DON l•ilR?>^\NI)() Y DO.XA ISABiiL
VL
C.V S T i i. i. A
'i
\)E
A R A C. 0 , \ ,
!•; s c R I T \
/\i/v' >7' CIIO?>L<TJ JU:ii\./\DO
DEL PVLCAU
C O T l.X A PA
CON AXTIGUOS iMANlISCRITCS
V AT Mr. K TAD A
1)1
\.\RIAS
IL I ' S T l l A C I O N t S
Y
ENMILN'DAS.
VALENCIA:
N
1\
I M I ' K i N T A 1)1- i l i : \ M T O
ANO
MU N
jM D C C L K \ \ .
Fig. 2. Pulgar. Crdnica de los Senores Reyes Catdlicos (Valencia, 1780), title-page. 1575/80
FRANC. r E R i : z i i
BAVI:RII
A R C IJ I IJ I A C U .\ i \ A L E \
SVAi.
C AUO LI
IllSP.
TIM
1M'A.\T\ M
I I I . U !• c; I S I I L l U K \ ' M
1 .\ S T I T \ T (J R I S P i n M . V R 11
D 1:
NV M 1 S
HEBRAEO SAMARITANIS
VALKNTIAE EDETANOR\ ,M
E\
Ol'FlCINA BENi';i)lCTI MOXFORT
M DCC LVX.M.
Fig. J. Perez Bayer, De numis hebraeo-samaritanis (Valencia, 1781), title-page. 673^.12
DE NVJMIS
1IE13RAEO-SAMARITANIS
BISSERTJTIO
ISACOOICA
AD TRACTATVAI
Dc Phocnicum ct Graccorum in Hisp.mia
|
\UCLUU.
CAPVT PRIMVM.
S
itiLi. Siiipt-'irs
in Om'Ji'ntc li
dc uumls H':b)-L-'.cn-SJ!ii;.rr/n:!!is.
OJ'.; is. /Vunvji'um f-IctrLlco-Svinhir/TC.n •i-'ii:
y
non tii'it cum i-inmuin cic PhoeniGr.iccoruiii in H'h.p.ini.i n-jmls agcvl , UL- iis Lti.im quo-. S.uiurlr.'.nuj
, cum .ib HubrAcis pcr;cri:vc :iiir p«McLin; quip-
pe quum ul nilhi un'iL\: pi-opoiituni fmssct, ut qii-ic longo
A
et
Fig. 4. Perez Bayer, De numis hebraeo-samaritanis (Valencia, 1781), p. i. 673.i.i2
dignified scholarship. It is possible to discount this relatively minor criticism, whilst
accepting the American typographer's judgement that the work was years ahead of its time
in the establishment of a harmony between the printer's typography and the author's
formidable scholarship.
The work which occupied Monfort most during his final years was his edition of
Mariana's Historia de Espana (fig. 5). As had been agreed around 1781, the work was to be
annotated by Domingo Morico, who died suddenly early in 1782, after a large part of the
first volume had already been printed. Monfort then approached Vicente Blasco and
Vicente Noguera with a request to continue the annotations to the edition. However, on
discovering that Morico's work was far from complete and indeed, mainly taken from
French sources, they proposed to Monfort that the part already printed should be
scrapped and a new start made with fresh annotations. Monfort agreed, in spite of the
financial embarrassment, and the first volume appeared in 1783.
This fine work, which Monfort did not hve to see completed, merited the praise of
Charles III: the prologue to volume 2, issued in 1785, contains a quotation from a letter,
written on 24 April 1783 by the Count of Floridablanca to the editors, at the King's
command, to express His Majesty's special satisfaction at the beauty of the edition. ('El
Rey, a quien he presentado el primer tomo de la Historia de Espana que escribio el Padre
Juan de Mariana, ha visto con particular complacencia la hermosura de su edicion
executada por el habil impresor D. Benito Monfort. . . ')
In the same prologue, the death of the printer, on 21 March 1785, was announced, with
the information that the edition would be completed under the direction of Monfort's son
Benito, 'no menos habil y zeloso que su padre'. The remaining volumes were issued as
follows: tomo 3 in 1787, tomo 4 in 1788, tomo 5 in 1789, tomo 6 in 1790, tomo 7 in 1791,
tomo 8 in 1795, and tomo 9 in 1796.
The book was published by subscription, the King himself apparently intervening to
help overcome certain legal difficulties concerning the new edition. Once again, Updike
criticised the preliminary matter but says of the text itself: 'in a good, modelled, late
eighteenth-century old style .. . well arranged and very handsome. The paper and ink are
excellent, the imposition most elegant and as a whole it is a successful piece of printing'.
A curious feature of Monfort's printing career is noted by Lasala: unlike his two
contemporaries Ibarra and Sancha, the Monfort press did not produce any edition of the
Spanish Golden Age classics, such as works by Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Quevedo, etc.
This is perhaps all the more surprising when one recalls the artistic excellence of his
productions.
It was to Manuel Monfort that the press was entrusted by the terms of the will of Benito
Monfort, but as at the time of his father's death, Manuel was Director of the School of
Engraving of the Academia de San Carlos in Valencia, and was fully committed, the dayto-day direction of the press was handed over to his brother Benito.
There is also a quite striking difference, and again, this is alluded to by Lasala, between
the Ibarra and the Monfort presses in the way the succession was handled. In the case of
the former, the heirs were quick to note the change in their imprints: these appeared in
57
HISTORIA
GENERAL DE ESPANA
OLE KSCKIBIO
EL P. JUAN DE MARIANA
ILUSTRADA HN ESTA NUEVA IMPRESION
DE TABLAS CROJfOLOGICAS
NOTAS Y OBSKRVACIONES CRITICAS
LA VLDA BEL AUTOR.
TOMO PRIMERO.
CON SUPERIOR. PERMISO
EN VALENCIA Y OFICINA DE BENITO MONFORT
ASO
MDCCLXXXIH.
Mariana, Historia general de Espana (Valencia, 1783), title-page. 181.g.2
a variety of forms: 'Viuda de Ibarra, Hijos y Compania', 'Viuda de Ibarra', *Viuda e Hija
de Ibarra', and even 'Nietos de Ibarra'. By contrast, on Monfort's death, his wife, sons,
and grandson seemed content to leave the imprint as it always had been: 'Imprenta de
Benito Monfort'. It continued thus until 1853, when the press was sold to the proprietor of
the periodical El Valenciano. The name Monfort still appeared, no doubt for reasons of
prestige, until about 1859—the imprint appearing in the form: 'El Valenciano, antes de
D. Benito Monfort', which, as Guastavino Gallent observes, 'contiene toda la tristeza de
los epitafios'.
The following tentative list of holdings in the Reference Division of the British Library
is based mainly on the list given in Ruiz Lasala's bibliography of Monfort, an impressive
work listing 439 books printed up to 1785, the year of Monfort's death. Of this total, I have
identified a mere forty-six as being in the Library.
1759
LEGIPONT, O . Itinerario en que se contiene el
modo de hacer con utilidad los viages a cortes
estranjeras. Por Benito Monfort, junto al
Hospital de los Estudiantes. 8°.
790.c.26.
1760
MAYANS Y SISCAR, G . Carta escrita al Dotor
Don Vicente Calatayud. 4*^.
1762
Las seis comedias de Terencio. Trad,
por Pedro Simon Abril. 2 tom. 8°.
TERENCE.
1764
Ros, C. Diccionario valenciano-castellano. En
la Imprenta de Benito Monfort, junto al
Hospital de los Estudtantes. 8°.
12943.aa.19.
1765
VrvES, J. L. Introduccion a la sabiduria. Trad,
por D. de Astudillo. The title-page is engraved. 12^.
en la castellana por D Noguera y Ramon. Por
Benito Monfort, Impressor del Ilustrissimo
Cabtldo de su Metropolitana Iglesia. 8°.
1486.aaa.31.
1767
ViVESj.L.Dialogos.Trad.porelDr.Christoval
Covet, y Peris. Quarta edicion. Corregido el
texto, y mejorada traduccion. Latin and
Spanish. 8°.
1768
BERNUS, A. Propositiones selectae ex Sacra
Scriptura, ex theologia dogmatica, scholastica, & morali, ex historia ecclesiastica, et ex
quatuordecim Libris P Alphonsi de Castro
Zamorensis, etc. Valentiae Edetanorum: In
Typographia Benedicti Monfort. fol.
i488.dd.9.
CARLEVALIUS, T . Disputationum Juris variarum
ad interpretationem regiarum legum Regni
Catelae. 2 tom. fol.
710.1.2,3.
1769
Rondalla de rondalles. Composta
per un curios apassionat a la Uengua Uemosina
(i.e. L. Galiana). Per Benet Monfort, any
1769. 8°.
GALIANA, L .
1766
BuoNAMici, C. Count. Memorias de los sucesos
de Veletri. Escritas en lengua latina y puestas
12489.6.18.
59
de. Arte del romance castellano.
En la Imprenta de Benito Monfort, Impressor
del Colegto Andresiano. 2 torn. 8".
Cabades Magi. Ex praelo Benedicti Monfort,
Academiae Valentinae Typographi. 4".
SAN PEDRO, B .
1775
ARIAS MONTANO, B . Rhetoricum Libri IIII. Ex
praelo Benedicti Monfort, Archiep. Valent.
Typ. 8".
1770
LE6N, L . de. Augustinian. De los nombres de
Cristo. Nueva edicion enmendada. 4".
i493.h.2.
111"^". Senor D".
Felipe Beltran dignissimo Obispo de
Salamanca, en su empleo de Inquisidor
General de Espana, Cancion pindarica. 4°.
11451.C.30.
IGLESIAS DE LA CASA, J . A1
1773
de nuestro muy santo padre Clemente
XIV por el qual Su Santidad suprime,
deroga, y estingue el instiruto y orden de los
Clerig;os Regulares, denominados de la
Compafiia de Jesus. En la Imprenta de Benito
1776
Monfort, Impresor de la Excelentisima Ciudad.
HuRTADO DE MENDOZA, D . Guerra de Granada.
fol.
Nueva impresion completa de lo que faltava
i473.dd.4(22).
en las anteriores. 4°.
REAL Cedula de S.M. y Senores de su Consejo,
281.e.4.
encargando a los tribunales superiores, REALES aranceles formados por resolucion de
Ordinarios Eclesiasticos, y Justicias de estos
S M a consulta del Consejo. En la Oficina de
Reynos, cuiden respectivamente de la
Benito Monfort, impresor de la Real Audiencia.
egecucion del Breve de Su Santidad, por el
fol.
qual se anula, disuelve, y estingue peri473.dd.4(i8).
petuamente la Orden de Regulares, llamada
la Compania de Jesus. En la Imprenta de VIRGIL. La Eneyda. Trad, en verso castellano
por G Hernandez de Velasco. En la Oficina de
Benito Monfort, Impresor de la Excelentisima
Benito Monfort, Impresor del II.mo Sr.
Ciudad. fol.
Arzobispo. 2 tom. 8°.
11385.cc.10.
REAL Ordenanza adicional a la de reemplazos
1777
de tres de noviembrc de mil setecientos i
setecientos i setenta. fol.
INSTITUCIONES economicas de la Sociedad de
i473.dd.4(2o).
Amigos del Pais de la Ciudad, i Reino de
Valencia. Primera parte. No more published.
1774
ARIAS MONTANO, B. Monumentos sagrados de
la salud del hombre que en verso latino canto
RELACION de los premios, que la Sociedad de
en LXXII odas D Benito Arias Montano i en
Amigos del Pais de Valencia, y su Reyno,
verso espanol el P Benito Feliu de San Pedro.
ofrece por primera vez. 4**.
8«.
BREVE
ii45i.b.io.
1778
PERSECUCION contra la religion Christiana y
martirio que padecieron en la Provincia
A. Sacra Doctrina in pctitione
cathcd. quac locorum theologicorum explicatione regitur asserenda a P F Augustino
CABADES MAGI,
60
PfeREZ BAYER, F . Franc. Perezii Bayerii
Archidiaconi Valentini Dc numis hebraeosamaritanis. L.P. fol.
de Fokien en la China cinco religiosos
Dominicanos. 4*'.
REGLAMENTO para
el govierno del Monte-Pio de
Viudas, y pupilos de los abogados del ilustre
colegio de la ciudad de Valencia, fol.
1473.dd.4(4).
[ANOTHER COPY.]
L.P.
Fabulas en verso castellano
para uso del Real Seminario Bascongado. 4.^.
4017.h.28.
SAMANIEGO, F . M .
[ANOTHER COPY.]
i473.dd.4(26a).
1779
1782
de S.M. en que se previene, y
establece el recogimiento de vagos. Afio 1775.
Reimpresa por Benito Monfort. fol.
CATECISMO
del Santo Concilio de Trento para
los parrocos. Trad, por A. Zorita. Publicado
de orden del Rey. fol.
Cronica del Seiior Rey
Don Juan Segundo. Corregida, enmendada,
y adicionada por L Galindez de Carvajal,
y aumentada en esta ultima edicion de
algunas notas manuscritas del mismo. fol.
MONFORT Y BESADES, B.
ORDENANZA
Plan de una nueva
imprcsion de la Historia de Espana que
escribio Juan dc Mariana, que ofrece por
subscripcion Benito Monfort. fol.
PEREZ DE GUZMAN, F .
9180.h.II.
ViVES, J. L. Joannis Ludovici Vivis Valentini
Opera omnia. Tomus i. ii, iii. fol.
REAL Cedula
de S.M. y Senorcs del Consejo por
la qual se manda guardar, y cumplir la Real
resolucion de 16 de Agosto de 1776. fol.
3675.C.10.
1783
MARIANA, J. de. Historia general de Espaiia.
Tomo primero. fol.
181.g.2.
1780
PuLGAR, H. del. Cronica de los Sefiores Reyes
Catolicos Don Fernando y Dofia Isabel de
Castilla y de Aragon. fol.
1575/80.
[ANOTHER COPY.]
ViVES, J. L. Joannis Ludovici Vivis Valentini
Opera omnia. Tomus iv. fol.
3675.C.10.
Imperfect; wanting the list of
1784
subscribers.
CONTINUACION de la noticia historica dc la Real
Academia de las nobles artes establecida en
Valencia con el titulo de San Carlos; y
relacion de los premios que distribuyo en la
Junta General de 2 de Sctiembre y en la
publica de i de noviembre de 1783. fol.
594.k.i2.
1781
CoNTiNUACiON de la noticia historica de la Real
Academia de las nobles artes establecida en
Valencia con el titulo de San Carlos; y
relacion de los premios, que distribuyo en las
Juntas publicas de 6 de noviembre de 1776,
y 26 del mismo mes de 1780. fol.
ViVES, J. L. Joannis Ludovici Vivis Valentini
Opera omnia. Tomus v. fol.
3675.C.10.
61
MARIANA, J. de. Historia general de Espana.
Tomo segundo. Vols. j-g were printed after
Monforfs death, fol.
i8i.g.3.
SERRANO. T . Thomae Serrani De Civitatibus
antiquae Hispaniae feriendae monetae jure
usis. 4**.
6o2.e.i6(4).
ViVES, J. L. Joannis Ludovici Vivis Valentini
Opera omnia. Tomus vi. Vols. 7, 8 were
printed after Monforfs death, fol.
3675.C.10.
1 The British Library Journal., vi, 2 (1980) and ix, 2 4 Menendez y Pelayo, Obras del Abate Marchena,
tom. 2, p. 53: 'es lastima que la correccion del texto
(1983). On Benito Monfort see also: G. Guastavino
no corresponda siempre a la belleza y pulcritud de
Gallent, La Imprenta de don Benito Monfort,
los tipos y de la estampacion, que es de lo mas
ijSj~i8s2 (Madrid, 1943); I. Ruiz Lasala, D.
perfecto que nunca se vio en Espaiia . . .' C^oted
Benito Monfort y su oficina tipografica (Saragossa,
by J. E. Serrano y Morales, Resena historica en
1974)forma de diccionario de las imprentas que han existido
2 A. Palau y Dulcet, Manual del Librero hispanoen Valencia (Valencia, 1898, 99), p. 338.
americano (Barcelona, 1948-77), tom. 7, no.
135342: 'Bella y estimada edicion, la mejor que 5 A. Bordazar de Artazu, Plantificacion de la imprenta de el Rezo Sagrado (Valencia, 1732), B.L.,
existe de esta celebre obra.'
T.i9*(53)3 D. B. Updike, Printing Types (London, 2nd edn.,
1937), vol. ii, p. 77, etc.
62