[THE ANIMATED MARIAN FIGURE OF THE RECONQUISTA] Breve compendio del origen, y milagros de la prodigiosa imagen de N. Sra de Lluch [Brief summary of the origin and miracles of the prodigious image of Our Lady of Lluch].
[Mallorca]: Imprenta de la Viuda Cerdà, 1783. Small octavo (14.6 × 10 cm). Contemporary full vellum; [20], 225, [1] pp. with woodcut frontispiece image of Our Lady of Lluch. Old shelf-label to front pastedown; leaves and binding appear to have been cleaned; the spine bears a faint shadow of a removed label; edges slightly fox-stained; else very good. Item #55096
First Spanish edition of this work about the Patron saint of the Island of Mallorca, Our Lady of Lluch, or Lluc, a statue of which is housed at the sanctuary. Translated from the Catalan edition, published 1684 in Palma as "Libre de la invencio, y miracles de la prodigiosa figvra de Nostre Senora de Llvch". The publication by Rafael Busquets arose against the background of the decrees of the Council of Trent, which ultimately led to the thorough investigation of numerous cults and traditions of popular piety. In 1642, the diocesan curia of Mallorca ordered that the miracle-working power of the statue venerated in Lluc be clarified on the basis of the testimony of as many witnesses as possible, in order ultimately to regulate the cult itself in terms of canon law and liturgical practice. From 8 July to 20 November 1642, the investigations and recorded interrogations of around fifty persons then took place, which would eventually also form the basis of Rafael Busquets’s publication.
In these interviews, questions were asked not only about those graces that were at that time associated with the image, but also about the history that historically grounded the cult. This recorded oral tradition constitutes the first extensive written exposition of the legend, although the cult itself can be traced back to the Middle Ages. According to this legend, after the reconquest of Mallorca from the Moors, a shepherd named Lluc – who is said to have, by coincidence, borne the same name as the Evangelist Luke, traditionally regarded as the painter of the archetype of Marian icons – discovered a statue of the Virgin Mary accompanied by a miraculous apparition of light. After the figure had been given an honored place in a nearby chapel, it disappeared, only to be found again at the very spot where it had first appeared. Eventually, a small hermitage was built on that site, forming the origin of the present-day monastery. (Cf. Gabriel Llompart, Nostra Dona Santa Maria de Lluc (Mallorca), in: Analecta Sacra Tarraconensia, 1987, vol. 60, pp. 239-80.)
Palau vol. I, p. 292; Aguilo; 1.018.
As of July 2026, KVK, OCLC show only one copy outside of Spain, in North America.
Price: €800.00