Lot 333, Auction 3/19/2026: 1st Ed. “Monarchia Ecclesiastica” 1620 – Juan de Pineda

$390.00

In stock

Western Europe, Spain, Barcelona, Counter-Reformation / Early Modern period, ca. 1620 CE. A substantial first edition of “Quarta Parte de la Monarchia Ecclesiastica, o Historia Universal del mundo” (“Fourth Part of the Ecclesiastical Monarchy, or Universal History of the World”), composed by Juan de Pineda (1558-1637), one of the most formidable Spanish Jesuit theologians and biblical exegetes of the early modern period. Printed in Barcelona by Hieronymo Margarit in the year 1620, at the expense of Juan de Bonilla, bookseller of Zaragoza, this volume represents a key installment in Pineda’s monumental attempt to present world history as a divinely ordered narrative governed by ecclesiastical authority. Born in Seville, Pineda entered the Society of Jesus in 1572 and went on to teach philosophy, theology, and Scripture for more than two decades in Seville, Cordova, and Madrid. Size: 8.5″ L x 4″ W x 12″ H (21.6 cm x 10.2 cm x 30.5 cm)

He served as Provost of the professed house and rector of the Jesuit college in Seville and was appointed consultor to the Spanish Inquisition. In that role, he examined the principal libraries of Spain, work that culminated in the “Index Prohibitorum Librorum” of 1612, later reissued in 1632. His erudition was widely admired in his lifetime, and his reputation extended beyond Spain, marked notably by honors at the University of Evora, where a memorial tablet declared, “Hic Pineda fuit” (Here Pineda was).

The “Monarchia Ecclesiastica” sought to reconcile sacred history and secular chronology within a single providential framework, reflecting the intellectual climate of Counter-Reformation Spain, where theology, politics, and historiography were inseparable. Pineda’s vast learning, including mastery of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, earned lasting praise for its rigor and breadth, with later scholars noting his remarkably advanced use of historical sources, textual criticism, and comparative interpretation.

This volume is printed on laid paper in dense double-column Roman type and retains its original or early limp vellum binding, hand-sewn with visible ties and bearing a manuscript title along the spine. The vellum exhibits natural waviness and surface wear consistent with age and handling, while the interior shows toning, scattered staining, and minor edge wear, all typical of a heavily consulted scholarly work of the early seventeenth century. Both a serious instrument of Jesuit scholarship and a physical testament to early Spanish printing, this first edition “Quarta Parte” stands as a compelling survival from an era that believed history itself could be read as theology, provided one had the stamina, the Latin, and a very large book.

Condition: Worming and old, inactive insect damage to pates. Some tears, losses, and chipping to pages. Wrinkling and creases to cover with bending to edges. Foxing and discoloring throughout, with a few inscriptions from previous owners. Text still very legible.

Provenance: Private collection of important Hollywood family, collected between 1930 and 1980

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