An attractive, unsophisticated copy, bound in limp vellum, of the later edition of the posthumous works of colonial Mexican nun, poet, philosopher, writer, book collector and radical thinker on women's rights and education, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz (1651-1695).
First published in 1700, the Fama y obras posthumas was the third of three volumes of Sor Juana's works, printed and intended as both part of that set and as a stand-alone work in its own right. The present volume forms part of a reprint of the full three works by printer Rubio in 1725 (after Vol. I, Poemas de la unica poetisa americana, first printed in 1689, and II. Segundo tomo de las obras de Soror Juana Ines de la Cruz (1692)). Accordingly, here 'Tom. III' is printed at the foot of several leaves in each quire.
The title suggests that this volume principally contains Sor Juana's posthumous works, though the majority of the text is given over to laudatory verse, sonnets and elegies dedicated to her by prominent noble and religious men, and significantly, women at the time of her death. This volume does, however, contain one of Sor Juana's best-known works, her strident defence of the right of women to formal education and learning, the Respuesta a la muy ilustre Sor Philotea de la Cruz, written in 1691 but only published for the first time in 1700, in the first edition of the present work.
The Respuesta, or Response, was written in answer to a pamphlet written in 1690 by Manuel Fernández de Santa Cruz, Bishop of Puebla, under a female pseudonym, aimed at Sor Juana, that criticised female education; or rather, that 'was in favour of women’s education at a high level, but thought that to use it in public life was a form of sinful pride', and that held against pagan letters (Taylor). Sor Juana's response is a vehement defence of women's rights to knowledge and education, advocacy of women educating women, and promotion of women as intellectual authorities. She drew on her own experience as a young woman not permitted to attend university, showed an understanding of the power dynamics at work in gendered roles of (male) instructor and (female) student, and deftly deployed evidence from classical writing and the interpretation of scripture to make her case.
Following this exchange of pamphlets in the early 1690s, Sor Juana ceased writing - either by choice or censorship - and would sell her 4000-book strong library in 1694. She died when plague struck her Hieronymite convent in 1695. A significant figure of the Spanish Golden Age, known as the phoenix of Mexico, and here 'la mexicana musa' (p.264) Sor Juana has been considered 'the first feminist of the Americas' (JCB).
Very sporadic foxing, title page dusty and well-thumbed, two closed tears (to t.p and p.40), not touching text.
Provenance: Harmsworth Library copy; twenty-fifth portion of the sale, 5 February 1951, with purchase date and price code to rear pastedown, this volume lot 7748.
Palau y Dulcet 65226, Sabin 36814 (first, 1700 ed.). B. Taylor, 'Sor Juana's Reply: a C17th feminist manifesto' BL Americas and Oceania collections blog [open access].
