A milestone in Iberian literary history: the first work of Spanish literature to be printed on the Iberian Peninsula itself
Obres o trobes en laors de la Verge Maria
Valencia (Spain) — 1474

Obres o trobes en laors de la Verge Maria
Valencia (Spain) — 1474
A 1474 poetry contest in Valencia was organized by the priest and poet Bernat Fenollar (1438–1516)
45 poems in praise of the Virgin Mary were published on March 25th, 1474 by Lambert Palmart (b. 1440) in Valencia
Forty are written in Valencian, four in Spanish, one in Italian, and a Latin prologue introduces the volume
Obres o trobes en laors de la Verge Maria
- Obres o trobes en laors de la Verge Maria
Short Description
The first printed specimen of Spanish literature originated in Valencia in 1474, the Obres o trobes en laors de la Verge Maria. It is the result of a poetry contest called by Lluís Despuig (ca. 1410–1482), and the forty-five poems contained in the codex are all in praise of the Virgin Mary. The volume is one of the oldest Spanish incunabula, books printed before 1501, as well as being a splendid artifact of Valencian culture at a time when the city was one of the most important commercial centers of the Mediterranean world and the prize possession of the Crown of Aragon.
Obres o trobes en laors de la Verge Maria
This book is of singular importance for Spanish literary history, it is the first work of Spanish literature to be printed on the Iberian Peninsula. The Obres o trobes en laors de la Verge Maria originated on March 25th, 1474 from the Valencian printing house of Lambert Palmart (b. 1440). Palmart was born in Cologne and like many German printers, he went abroad where his skills were in high demand. As such, it is also one of the oldest Spanish incunabula, printed books originating from before 1501. At the time of its publication, Valencia was among the first tier of Mediterranean mercantile cities along with Marseille, Naples, and Genoa. As such, it was the Crown of Aragon’s most important commercial center, attracting some of Spain’s first publishers. Aside from being a literary milestone, the work has a fascinating genesis story that gives us a glimpse of the dynamism and Renaissance spirit of this Spanish port city.
The Prize of a Poetry Contest
Through his service to the Crown of Aragon as a soldier, advisor, and diplomat, the minor Valencian nobleman Lluís Despuig (ca. 1410–1482) rose to become the Master of the Order of Montesa and the Lieutenant General of the Kingdom of Valencia, essentially ruling it in place of the King. He is also supposed to have overseen a poetry contest, specifically poems praising the Virgin Mary. The 1474 competition was organized by the priest and poet Bernat Fenollar (1438–1516), one of the most prominent members of literary circles in the city. Aside from their subject, the poems were also required to consist of five stanzas with a dedication and a refrain, but the contestants had freedom with respect to language and style. Interestingly, the contestants are referred to as troubadours because they wrote in vernacular and poets, according to the contemporary definition, wrote in Latin. The codex consists of forty-five poems selected from this contest: forty in Valencian, four in Spanish, one in Italian, and a Latin prologue – all printed in an elegant and easily legible humanist script. Today, the literary milestone is the proud possession of the University of Valencia.
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Obres o trobes en laors de la Verge Maria
- Origin
- Valencia (Spain)
- Date
- 1474
- Epochs
- Style
1 available facsimile edition(s) of „Obres o trobes en laors de la Verge Maria“
Obres o trobes en laors de la Verge Maria
- Publisher
- Vicent Garcia Editores – Valencia, 1979
- More Information
- Reproduction of the entire original document as detailed as possible (scope, format, colors). The binding may not correspond to the original or current document binding.
Matching Works
Hundred Images of Wisdom - Christine de Pizan's Letter of Othea
The first female novelist of the Middle Ages: Christin de Pizan’s letters from the Goddess of Wisdom to Hector
Experience MoreThe Willehalm - Wolfram Von Eschenbach
A fascinating picture of courtly life: Eschenbach's Middle High German epic of the knight Willehalm struggling against the Saracens
Experience MoreMatching Background Articles
Literature
Much like today, medieval readers were looking for stories full of excitement and adventure that would take them out of...Experience more
- Treatises / Secular Books
- Apocalypses / Beatus
- Astronomy / Astrology
- Bestiaries
- Bibles / Gospels
- Chronicles / History / Law
- Geography / Maps
- Saints' Lives
- Islam / Oriental
- Judaism / Hebrew
- Single Leaf Collections
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Literature / Poetry
- Liturgical Manuscripts
- Medicine / Botany / Alchemy
- Music
- Mythology / Prophecies
- Psalters
- Other Religious Books
- Games / Hunting
- Private Devotion Books
- Other Genres
- Aboca Museum
- Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA)
- Aldo Ausilio Editore - Bottega d’Erasmo
- Alecto Historical Editions
- Ars Magna
- ArtCodex
- AyN Ediciones
- Bärenreiter-Verlag
- Belser Verlag
- Belser Verlag / WK Wertkontor
- Bernardinum Wydawnictwo
- BiblioGemma
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vaticanstadt, Vaticanstadt)
- Bibliotheca Palatina Faksimile Verlag
- Bibliotheca Rara
- CAPSA, Ars Scriptoria
- Circulo Cientifico
- Club Bibliófilo Versol
- CM Editores
- Collezione Apocrifa Da Vinci
- Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses
- Coron Verlag
- De Agostini/UTET
- DIAMM
- E. Schreiber Graphische Kunstanstalten
- Ediciones Boreal
- Ediciones Grial
- Edilan
- Editalia
- Edition Leipzig
- Edition Libri Illustri
- Editiones Reales Sitios S. L.
- Editions Medicina Rara
- Editorial Mintzoa
- Egeria, S.L.
- Extraordinary Editions
- Facsimile Editions Ltd.
- Facsimilia Art & Edition Ebert KG
- Faksimile Verlag
- Franco Cosimo Panini Editore
- Fundación Hullera Vasco-Leonesa
- Giunti Editore
- Graffiti
- Grafica European Center of Fine Arts
- Helikon
- Herder Verlag
- Hes & De Graaf Publishers
- Hugo Schmidt Verlag
- Idion Verlag
- Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
- Imago
- Insel Verlag
- Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana - Treccani
- Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato
- Johnson Reprint Corporation
- Kaydeda Ediciones
- La Meta Editore
- Leo S. Olschki
- Libreria Musicale Italiana
- Lumen Artis
- M. Moleiro Editor
- Manuscriptum
- Millennium Liber
- Nova Charta
- Orbis Mediaevalis
- Orbis Pictus
- Österreichische Staatsdruckerei
- Patrimonio Ediciones
- PIAF
- Popyläen Verlag
- Prestel Verlag
- Priuli & Verlucca, editori
- Pro Sport Verlag
- Pytheas Books
- Quaternio Verlag Luzern
- Reales Sitios
- Reichert Verlag
- Roberto Vattori Editore
- Salerno Editrice
- Schöck ArtPrint Kft.
- Scrinium
- Scripta Maneant
- Scriptorium
- Siloé, arte y bibliofilia
- Styria Verlag
- Tempus Libri
- Testimonio Compañía Editorial
- The Clear Vue Publishing Partnership Limited
- The Facsimile Codex
- The Folio Society
- Tip.Le.Co
- TouchArt
- Trident Editore
- Vallecchi
- Van Wijnen
- Vicent Garcia Editores
- Wiener Mechitharisten-Congregation (Wien, Österreich)
- Yushodo