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