Trade in Arabian silk

Santarem, Manuel Francisco de Barros e Sousa, Visconde de. De l'introduction des procédés relatifs à la fabrication des étoffes de soie dans la Péninsule hispanique sous la domination des arabes; recherches précédées d'un examen sur la question de savoir si ces procédés y étaient ou non connus avant le IXe siècle de notre ère.

Paris, Maulde & Renou, 1838.

8vo. 64 pp. Burgundy paper spine.

 1,500.00

First and only edition. Discusses trade in silk and attempts at silk production in various parts of the Iberian Peninsula, including Portugal, Valencia, Murcia, etc., from ancient times until the 1820s, with some emphasis on the efforts of the Arabs. The second Visconde de Santarem (1791-1856) has been called "the greatest figure in the history of Portuguese cartography" (Cortesão, History of Portuguese Cartography I, 23); in fact, it was Santarem who coined the term "cartographia". He travelled to Brazil with the royal family in 1807 and held various diplomatic posts; he also served as Keeper of the Royal Archives at Torre do Tombo from 1824 until 1833, when he was dismissed for political reasons. Although he spent the rest of his life in Paris, his standing with the Portuguese government later improved to the point that the government funded many of his publications, and appointed him Keeper of the Torre do Tombo without requiring him to return.

Porbase locates copies at the Society of Antiquaries of London, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

References

Innocêncio V, 435-438. OCLC 458944557.

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