Hispanism – Languages across Borders

Rusinyol-Santiago.-Oracions-3-Liam1 — Rusiñol: *Oracions* (Barcelona: 1897)

The University Library has recently acquired a collection of over 70 titles from the library of the late Jonathan Gili (1943-2004), a documentary film-maker, small-press publisher and collector of eclectic tastes, and his wife Phyllida. His father was Joan Gili, a publisher and a translator of Lorca who co-founded the most celebrated Spanish bookshop in Britain: Dolphin Books. Jonathan Gili was passionate about printed ephemera. He collected many first editions and rather unique examples of art deco style in print form. His poetic vision of the world is exemplified in this collection, mostly consisting of Catalan and Spanish material ranging in date from the 16th to the 20th centuries. There are also items in Portuguese and Mallorquín, with a smaller number of items in French, Latin or Provençal, all somehow connected with the Iberian peninsula. Continue reading “New acquisition: The Gili Collection of Spanish & Catalan books” →

*The civilization of Spain*. London, New York: Oxford University Press, 1967. 9582.d.162.

John Brande Trend (1887-1958) was the first Professor of Spanish at Cambridge University. He was appointed to the chair of Spanish in 1933. His friendship with Edward Joseph Dent, Professor of Music at Cambridge between 1926 and 1941, was to play an instrumental part in Trend’s passion for Hispanism. His first degree was in Natural Sciences, but he soon developed a keen interest in Spanish life and culture and would later become a prime figure in Spanish musicology. Trend admired Luís de Góngora, one of the most influential poets of the Golden Age, and Manuel de Falla, possibly the greatest Spanish composer of the twentieth century. Continue reading “J.B. Trend, first Professor of Spanish at Cambridge” →