First edition of the first textbook for Spanish learners of Mandarin, written because of the increasing amount of trade between Spain and China in the 19th century. According to David Martinez-Robles, the work "epitomises how Euro-American linguists abandoned their focus on classical language and took a new approach towards practical modern Chinese." Despite its importance, however, it is quite rare, as we have only been able to trace one other copy in sales records of the past hundred years.
Don José de Aguilar (dates unknown) was assigned to China by the Spanish king, and spent 13 years there as the consul. According to the preface, he quickly realised how difficult it was to learn Mandarin as a Spanish speaker, because he could only find study material in English. Therefore, when he had finally mastered Mandarin, he set out to write a Spanish textbook himself. At first glance, his work looks like a dictionary, but it is actually a dictionary and phrase book in one. It gives the Mandarin phrases in Chinese characters, with their pronunciation. Then it gives the Spanish translation for each individual character, and finally for the phrase as a whole, which is printed vertically. The textbook is clearly intended for traders, as its focus is on an economy-related vocabulary. It is divided in chapters which give phrases for a specific topic, such as employees, factories, fabrics, export and import duties, house construction, and money, but also slavery, epidemics, and fires.
The edges and corners of the boards are somewhat scuffed, the spine had somewhat faded. The work is very lightly foxed throughout, a brown stain on the title page, not affecting any text. Otherwise in good condition. CCPB000084345-8; Palau, I, 3602; WorldCat 793580657, 250251991, 1327587268, 752742235 (10 copies); cf. Martinez-Robles, D., "Language as imperial battlefield: the case of El intérprete chino," in: Language and History, vol 66 (3), 2023, pp. 223-241.