Note 744 — Chapter I

I notice in a few works printed before 1550, that the Inquisition, without formal authority, began quietly to take cognizance and control of books that were about to be published. Thus, in a curious treatise on Exchange, “Tratado de Cambios,” by Cristóval de Villalon, printed at Valladolid in 1541, 4to, the title-page declares that it had been “visto por los Señores Inquisidores”; and in Pero Mexia’s “Silva de Varia Leccion,” (Sevilla, 1543, folio,) though the title gives the imperial license for printing, the colophon adds that of the Apostolical Inquisitor. There was no reason for either, except the anxiety of the author to be safe from an authority which rested on no law, but which was already recognized as formidable. Similar remarks may be made about the “Theórica de Virtudes” of Castilla, which was formally licensed, in 1536, by Alonso Manrique, the Inquisitor-General, though it was dedicated to the Emperor, and bears the Imperial authority to print.