Libraries

The roman printing office of Nicolas Angel Tinassio was famous for manufacturing a great quantity of the Santa Rosa literature. Although, no less remarkable is the fact that between the years of 1681 and 1682, he published the three volumes of True Treasures of the Indies of the Dominican fray Juan Meléndez.

The manuscript version of this monumental writing circulated (as Ferre de Valdecebro’s hagiography of Santa Rosa de Lima reveals) among the members of the Order of Preachers, probably in the preliminary works for the roman edition. The fact that several members of the order have reviewed the text with interest should not surprise us today, as this accounts for the presence of Santo Domingo’s children since the first contact they had in America.

 

The engravings designed for his volumes; show that Melendez’s work interweaves the history of the discovery of America with that of the Order of Preachers throughout it. For example: Carlos V, Francisco Pizarro and Santa Rosa de Lima appear alongside controversial figures for the American world such as the valencian San Luis Bertran, adverse to the interests of the spaniards on american territory.

We share the digitization of the three volumes carried out by the AECID, because these can be consulted from a single site. The quality of the images is optimal and allows a clear and fast reading.