NOTE

The Spanish Scala Celi

The Scala celi in Spanish, in the edition withwhich I am here concerned, is a small printedwork of only twenty quarto leaves. It hasnothing whatever to do with much longer worksof the same titie (but in Latin) with which ithas been confused. Haebler,^ for example,enters it under 'Johannes Junior', but this isJohannes Gobii, a Dominican, whose folio-sizedbook was printed at Lubeck in 1476, at Ulmin 1480, at Strasburg in 1483, and at Louvainin 1485 (Goff G 310-13). There is also noconnection between the Spanish Scala celi andthe Scala Dei in Catalan, of Francisco Ximenes(Barcelona, 1494; Haebler 710, of whichHaebler 709, Hain 16237, is presumably aghost), nor, of course, the Scala Paradisi of'John of the Ladder' or St. John Climacus.The Spanish Scala celi is attributed to St.Jerome, although it is certainly not by him,and its true authorship (no doubt some obscureSpanish priest of the fifteenth century) mustbe regarded as unknown and unknowable. Thetext divides St. Jerome's 'Ladder of Heaven'into thirty steps, and examines each one in aseparate chapter.

Four printed editions are recorded, and theseare remarkable in being, at least up to thepresent time, each recorded in a single copyonly, one of which has apparently disappeared.The British Library has only the fourth of thefour, an anonymously printed edition to whichthe totally inexplicable imprint [Toledo? 1550?]was given by the cataloguers after its purchasein December 1878. Sir Henry Thomas in hisSpanish short-title catalogue of 1921 much

more cautiously said 's.n. [1540.?]'. The first,second, and third editions are as follows:

1. Seville: [Meinardus Ungut & StanislausPolonus] for Juan Thomas Favario deLumelo, 15 March 1496. 4°: 24 leaves; 32lines. (Hain 9409. Haebler 342.) Only knowncopy: Biblioteca del Escorial.

2. [Seville: probably Jacob Cromberger, 30August 1505.] 4°. Norton^ 1004: RegestrumHbrorum don Ferdinandi Colon: 'boughtPefiaflor, 12 mrs.' There is no trace of thisbook today.

3. Seville: Jacob Cromberger, \c. 1518?]. 4°:20 leaves, a^°; 34 lines to a page. Largewoodcut on title-page, showing St. Jeromeon stairs, with lion. Majesty above. Title inwoodcut, not type-set. (Norton 914. Palau^292173.) Only recorded copy: Barcelona,Biblioteca de Catalunya.

4. British Library, C.37.d.6.

It is noteworthy that the first three editionswere all printed at Seville, and that the fourth,which agrees very closely with Norton'sdescription for no. 3, also has the same unusualcollation: a **, and the same number of lines toa page. Is it not most likely that edition no. 4was also printed at Seville.'

The book is printed in two gothic types, alarge type for first lines of sections, and atext-type measuring 92 mm. It is filled withsmall, square woodcut initials (mostiy consist-ing of E, as the first letter ofthe definite articlein Spanish); these are very worn and old, butthey decidedly belong to alphabets which werein use by the Cromberger firm in Seville formany years. A book which uses the same

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text-type is Novarco, Los quatro libros delvaleroso Cauallero Don Cirongilio de Tracia(Seville: Jacob Cromberger, 17 December1545). Certain woodcut capitals in this bookhad been in use since at least 1530, when theywere naturally much fresher and neater. Lettersfrom the same alphabets also occur in the Cruzde Christo, signed by Juan Cromberger atSeville on 30 June 1545; in Thesoro de Pobres,signed by Jacob Cromberger on 15 May 1547;and in a number of other books produced bythe same firm between 1540 and 1550. All thisevidence leaves no doubt that the fourth editionof the Spanish Scala celt was printed at Sevilleby the Cromberger firm. To date it accurately

is impossible, but to suggest that it too lies inthe decade 1540-50 cannot be far from thetruth. Whether the printer was Jacob or JuanCromberger is also impossible to decide, butthis matters little, since the same material isfound in the hands of each, and no doubt theyshared the same premises.

D. E. RHODES

1 K. Haebler, Bibliografia iberica del siglo XV (LaHaya, Leipzig, 1903, 17).

2 F. J. Norton, A descriptive catalogue of printing inSpain and Portugal, 1^01-1^20 (Cambridge,1978).

3 A. Palau y Dulcet, Manuel del Ubrero hispano-americano (Barcelona, 1948-77).

NOTES ON OUTSIDE CONTRIBUTORS

A. H. CHAPLIN: formerly Deputy Keeper in charge of Cataloguing; Principal Keeper,1966-70.

K. E. HANEY: Assistant Professor of Medieval Art History at the University ofMassachusetts, Amherst.

D. G. SELWYN: Lecturer in Theology, Saint David's University College, Lampeter.

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