Epitome Genealogico del Eminentissimo Cardenal Duque de Richelieu y Discursos Politicos sobre algunas acciones de su vida.

VILLA-REAL, M[ANUEL] F[ERNANDEZ] DA.

Juan Antonio Berdun

Pamplona

1641

FIRST EDITION. Engraved portrait of Cardinal Richelieu. Foldout genealogical chart. Ornate headpiece, historiated initials. Wide-margined copy.

Palau 89932.

Manuel Fernandez da Villa-Real, a native of Lisbon, served as Captain and Portuguese Consul-General in Paris. Upon his return to Lisbon in 1650, he was imprisoned by the Inquisition for his adherence to Judaism, and two years later, on December 1, 1652, executed by garrotting. This biography of Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642) French Prime Minister under King Louis XIII, is prefaced by a chanson and sonnet dedicated to him, as well as a sonnet honoring the Author, M.F. Villa-Real, all composed by Villa-Real’s friend, Spanish Marrano poet Antonio Henriques Gomes (circa 1600-1663). Concerning Gomes (or Gomez), see T. Oelman, Marrano Poets of the Seventeenth Century: An Anthology of the Poetry of João Pinto Delgado, Antonio Enriquez Gomez, and Miguel de Barrios (1982), pp. 137-139; M. Kayserling, Biblioteca Española-Portugueza-Judaica (1971) p. 49.