Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies: Special Collections

The Library’s Special Collections provide a rich resource for Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies (SPLAS) at the University of Manchester.

Our collections cover areas as diverse as Latin manuscripts from Visigothic Spain, 15th century printed books from Spain, contemporary accounts of the Hispano-Portuguese voyages of discovery and the Conquistadores, and literary archives relating to major Iberian and Latin American writers of the 20th century.

This guide will identify collection strengths and help you access relevant material.

The Library's Special Collections include significant holdings relating to the history of medieval and early modern Spain and Portugal, from the Visigothic period, through the unification of Spain, to the Renaissance and beyond.

Our important medieval manuscripts include: three 10th-century Latin manuscripts from Visigothic Spain; the famous Rylands Haggadah from 14th century Catalonia (Hebrew MS 6); and twenty-nine Spanish manuscripts, from the 16th century onwards, including a collection of the historical writings of Esteban de Garibay y Zamalloa, royal historiographer to Philip II. Portugal is represented by a decorated 15th-century armorial containing the arms of royal and noble families (Latin MS 28).

The Library holds 20 Spanish incunables (books printed in the 15th century). The earliest is Laudivio Zacchia's Epistolae Magni Turci from the Barcelona press of Johannes of Salzburg and Paulus Hurus, c.1475 (Spencer 18485). There are also at least 40 incunable editions of works by Spanish writers printed outside Spain. The earliest is the Rome edition of Torquemada's Meditationes, 1467 (Spencer 17251). The Library also holds a unique copy of El Libro del Esopete Ystoriado (Aesop's Fables), published in Toulouse in 1488 for the Spanish market.

There are significant collections of 16th- and 17th-century printed books, including theological, historical and literary texts. In the field of theology, the outstanding work is the famous six-volume Complutensian Polyglot Bible (1514–17), sponsored by Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros (Spencer 3). There are also important works relating to the Counter-Reformation. The archive of A. Gordon Kinder (1927–97) is a major source for studies of 16th-century Spanish Protestantism and the Catholic Reformation.

There are over 1000 volumes of Spanish historical works, and a further 500 on Portuguese history. The history and geography of Catalonia is particularly well represented, with over 60 works from the 17th century. There is also good coverage of the Basque country, with a collection of 70 volumes on the Basque language. Literary texts include the Lisbon and Valencia pirated editions of Cervantes's Don Quijote (Spencer 4603 and 11859), published in 1605, the same year as the first edition, and many fine subsequent editions.

The Clinton Papers are one of the most important archival sources to be found anywhere relating to the Peninsular War of 1807–14. Unfortunately the archive remains uncatalogued, but there is a summary listing of the smaller Kennedy Papers, which concern the same campaign.

The Spanish Civil War is documented in the archive of the Manchester Guardian newspaper, which is a key resource for most major events of the 20th century.

There is good coverage of Spanish and Portuguese literature of the 19th and 20th centuries, in both the original languages and in translation. For example, there are over 50 volumes of Azorín (Jose Martínez Ruiz) and editions of other members of the '1898 Generation', such as Ganivet, Ortega y Gasset and Unamuno. There are also first editions of works by Antonio Machado, García Lorca, Alberti, and the novelists Pérez Galdós, Blasco Ibáñez, Pío Baroja and Alas, among others.

Manchester based Carcanet Press has published the work of many Iberian and Latin American poets in Spanish and Portuguese, and in English translation. The Carcanet Press Archive contains important correspondence with writers, editors and translators. In addition, the papers of Giovanni Pontiero, former reader in Latin American Literature at The University of Manchester, contain his research papers relating to the novelist José Saramago (1922–2010).

Our Special Collections contain an excellent range of resources, manuscripts, archives and rare books relating to many aspects of Latin American studies. There are even three indigenous Mexican manuscripts, including an incomplete Techialoyan codex of Tepotzotlán (Mexican MS 1), written on amatl, made from the bark of the Mexican fig tree.

Four of the Spanish manuscripts relate to Latin America. Spanish MS 4 is a 'Vocabulario pana-español', a short vocabulary of the Pana, or Seteba, language of Peru, dated 1795. A more substantial 'Vocabulario español-indiano' is an 18th-century document on the Guarani language of Paraguay (Spanish MS 7).

The Library holds an excellent set of printed accounts of the voyages of discovery and the conquest of Latin America, including Fernández de Oviedo's Coronica de las Indias (1547), and Francis Drake's Expeditio in Indias (1588), to works of scientific importance such as Darwin's and Fitzroy's accounts of their South American voyages, and Humboldt's Researches of 1814.

Several archives document the commercial and cultural links between Britain and South America in the 19th century. For instance, the Hodgson, Robinson & Co. Archive and the Owen Owens & Sons Archive both record trade between Britain and Argentina during the first half of the 19th century. The Heald-Hall Family Papers relate to Walter Heald (1841–1925), a merchant who went to South America in 1866, to his wife Emily Isabel, née Krabbé (1852-1926), whom he met there, and to the firm of Krabbé, Higgins & Co. of Buenos Aires, general merchants.

What are Special Collections?

The University of Manchester Library holds one of the finest collections of rare books, manuscripts, archives and visual collections in the world. These collections are mainly concentrated in the magnificent building on Deansgate, The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, in the centre of Manchester. They are also housed in the Main Library on the University campus and at the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre, in Manchester Central Library. This resource introduces the different types of materials found in Special Collections and explains how they can be used to support your studies. For general tips on accessing digital and physical collections and visiting our reading room please look at our other Medium resources.

You are welcome to make use of Special Collections in your learning and research.

Due to the special nature of the material, we provide access in a controlled environment and there are some restrictions on use and access, particularly for fragile material or modern archives which may contain sensitive data.

Please read our guidance pages on the web for details.