The Bishop of Segovia, Juan Arias Dávila, could not imagine when he had Juan Párix de Heidelberg print the minutes of the synod that had been held in the town of Aguilafuente (Segovia) from June 1 to 10, 1472, that, after centuries, were treated with such care and protection. What is considered the first printed book in Spain and in Castilian, reigning Enrique IV, was transferred this Monday from the Segovia cathedral to the headquarters of the National Library of Spain (BNE) in Madrid, where it will be exhibited from Thursday to July 23 as part of the sample Incunabula: 550 years of printing in Spain, along with a varied representation of incunabula preserved in the BNE collections.
The incunabulum, known as the Synod of Aguilafuente, It has always remained in the cathedral archive, in a place that very few know and that changes from time to time for security reasons. In the same place the original manuscript is preserved, in which traces of having been used for printing can be perceived. The book is small, has 48 pages, and has been insured for eight million euros for its transfer, which would be paid by the State in case of possible compensation for its destruction, loss, theft or damage.
The preparations for the transfer had their liturgy in the sacristy of the Segovian cathedral in the presence of the dean, Ángel García Rivilla, the two curators of the exhibition, María José Rucio Zamorano (head of the Manuscripts and Incunabula service of the BNE) and Fermín de los Reyes (professor of Bibliographic Heritage at the Complutense University of Madrid), as well as the restorer of the BNE Arsenio Sánchez Hernampérez. Previously, the archivist technician Bonifacio Bartolomé, without being observed by anyone, had removed the incunabulum from his secret place. The technicians of the specialized company hired for its transfer placed it in a box lined with wood and then screwed on, sealed with a number, fireproof and specially adapted to the exact size of the specimen, which had been measured months before. According to Sánchez Hernampérez, the book was packed in the cathedral itself so that its usual conditions of temperature and humidity were maintained inside the box.
Before the dean signed the delivery certificates, an exhaustive analysis of the condition of the copy was carried out, which will be repeated upon his return, and then the box was transported to the truck that took it to Madrid, already escorted by the National Police, uniformed and as a countryman A patrol car opened the transfer convoy, made up of two other police cars located in front and behind the truck.
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The book begins with the index of chapters and then makes a list of all those attending the synod. Commissioner De los Reyes reports that it is made up of a drawn line, except for two fragments in which there are two columns, because the representatives of Pedraza and Fuentidueña did not want to appear related one after the other. The solution was to put them in two columns, according to the professor. The synod convened by Arias Dávila was attended by both ecclesiastics and civil representatives of the towns and places of the Segovian diocese. Its content is not exceptional, but it was printed: it recounts the development of the assembly and, incidentally, offers details of how the life of the Segovian diocese of the time passed.
The document addresses both the clergy and the laity who participated in the life of the diocese. For example, clergy are required to be educated and respectful in dress and worship, and are prohibited from carrying weapons without a license. Lay people are prohibited from divorcing without the knowledge of the Church, or from having preferential seats in churches.
The BNE exhibition commemorates 550 years since the arrival of the printing press in Spain (1472-2022) and, to date, the Synod is the book that marks that beginning. The exhibition explains what the incunabula were like (which are all the books that were printed until 1500), how the prints were made at that time and even exhibits a replica of a 17th-century printing press from the Madrid Municipal Printing Press. It also describes how was the transition from manuscript to print, with samples of a codex, a xylographic book and the first print of the National Library, the Catholicon, from 1460, perhaps from Gutenberg’s presses, according to Fermín de los Reyes. Also on display are the first Spanish music book (1492), the first illustrated book (fasciculus temporum1480) or the world map of the cosmography of Pomponio Mela (1498). Also the Grammar de Nebrija (1492), medical, liturgical, literary or legal books, a representative sample of the knowledge of that time.
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