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(MEXICAN IMPRINT--1566.) Ledesma, Bartholomé de. De septem novae legis sacramentis summarium. [4], 404, [16] leaves. 4to, early vellum with long folding edges, moderate wear; endpapers renewed, edge wear to title page, marginal repairs to first 13 leaves and final leaf, moderate worming throughout with skillful repairs, minimal dampstaining, leaves D3-6 transposed. Mexico: Antonio de Espinosa, 1566
first edition. Ledesma was an influential figure as the right-hand man to Archbishop Montúfar and chair of theology at the University of Mexico. During this period he was actively investigating Mexico's booksellers and private libraries, consigning many volumes to the bonfire and threatening the bookseller Alonso de Castilla with imprisonment for stocking forbidden titles (see Lundberg, Unification and Conflict, pages 101-5). He later became Bishop of Oaxaca. This treatise explains seven sacraments for use in the Mexican church. It was later reprinted in Salamanca in 1585. This book was produced by Antonio de Espinosa, who was just the second printer in the New World and "the man who brought printing in Mexico to maturity" (Woodbridge, page 13). Decorative features in this volume include an engraved title page, a colophon preceding the index, and consanguinity diagrams on leaves 352, 362, and 373, one of them showing descent from Adam and Eve. García Icazbalceta 47; Medina, Mexico I:50; Palau 134124; Sabin 39677; Wagner, Mexican Imprints in the Huntington Library 47. A remarkably well-preserved example of early Mexican printing.
