Discursos historicos de la vida, y muerte de Don Antonio de Zuniga ….

Lisbon, Antonio Alvarez, 1618.. FIRST and ONLY EDITION. Small 4°, late eighteenth-century tree sheep, spine gilt with raised bands in five compartments, crimson morocco lettering piece in second compartment from head, short title lettered in gilt, gilt armorial supralibros of Miguel de Faria on covers added mid-twentieth-century, text block edges rouged. Woodcut arms on title-page, woodcut initial letters, woodcut printer's device on H7v. Waterstains; nevertheless in fine condition. Armorial bookplate of Miguel [Braga Leite] de Faria (see Avelar Duarte, Ex-libris portugueses heráldicos, 1150; the supralibros conforms to 1149). (8), 63, (1 blank) leaves. Leaf 14 wrongly numbered 12; leaf 59 wrongly numbered 58. *** FIRST and ONLY EDITION. In eight discursos and a narración, Miranda traces the genealogy of the Zúñiga family, sketches Zúñiga's life and character, and describes the funeral rites held in Lisbon in his memory. After studying at Salamanca, Zúñiga entered military service in 1577. Following action in Italy, he was sent to Flanders and distinguished himself at the capture of Rosendael (1580). Appointed captain, Zúñiga became a trusted aide to the Duke of Parma. Miranda provides much information on Zúñiga's participation in the campaigns in Flanders and France from 1589-96, as Philip II sought to win the French throne through military and diplomatic maneuvers. In 1601 Zúñiga was sent to Lisbon, first as commander of Spanish forces there and later as Captain-General of Portugal, where his first assignment was to help plan the abortive Spanish invasion of Ireland. Preceding the Discursos are four sonnets in Spanish, including one by Juan de Torres Portugal and another by Manoel de Govea de Vasconcelos, a sonnet in Portuguese, and two décimas in Spanish by Alférez Sotomayor.Miranda, a soldier before entering the service of the dukes of Bragança, published several collections of dialogues on moral and philosophical subjects. The Discursos is his only published work in Spanish.*** Arouca M397. Innocêncio VI, 152: calling for viii, 63 pp. Barbosa Machado III, 434. Antonio II, 90. Palau 172173. Pinto de Mattos p. 402. Palha 4370. Garcia Peres, p. 386. Monteverde 3576. On Miranda, see Bell, Portuguese Literature, p. 262. Not in Almirante. Not in Martins de Carvalho, Dicionário bibliográfico militar português (1979). Not in HSA, Greenlee Catalogue or Ticknor Catalogue. Porbase locates two copies, both in the Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal (only one with leaf 14 correctly numbered; both with worming; one shaved, affecting the text). Jisc repeats British Library only. KVK (51 databases searched) locates only the copies cited by Porbase, and the copy in the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Not located in Rebiun. CCPBE locates only two copies: Universidad de Oviedo, and Biblioteca Valenciana. NUC: MH.