Vesuvius: Spanish news report on the 1631 eruption. 1 copy worldwide.

[Vesuvius] / [Ephemera]. Relacion del incendio de la Montana de Soma. S.l.: s.n., s.a. [1632]. Folio [32.1 x 22.7 cm], [4] ff., with woodcut initial. Disbound, remnants of sewing. Toned, spotted on first and last pages, tear to inner margin, a few stains, folds.
 
 
Very rare (no U.S. copies and only 1 worldwide) Spanish-language news report describing the 16 December 1631 eruption of Mount Vesuvius and its immediate aftermath. The anonymous author describes the situation in Naples and environs “As of today, 20 January 1632.”
 
The 1631 event was the first well-documented eruption of Vesuvius and the most powerful since the famous eruption of 79 AD that buried Pompeii and Herculaneum. Indeed, it is thought that more people died in 1631 than in 79. 
 
In 1631 Naples was still under Spanish rule, and so it is unsurprising that news of the eruption was reported in Spanish. This Relacion carries no imprint information, so it is unclear if the piece was printed in Spain or in Naples (the paper has no watermark; the use of elongated letters to fill out lines seems to me to be an Italian feature).
 
Visible on the last page are creases and discoloration showing that the item was folded up for distribution, mailing, or filing, which was common for early news reports. Later the piece seems to have formed part of a composite volume.
 
The writer knew Pliny the Younger’s letter on the 79 AD eruption: He recalls Pliny’s description of the volcanic ash cloud rising and spreading out like the trunk and canopy of a local pine tree. The reporter discusses in detail deaths, property damage, the displacement of people, and the extensive disaster response both civil and ecclesiastical (food distribution, temporary shelter, etc.). Special attention is given to emergency religious processions (the deployment of relics, sacred images, other thaumaturgical preventatives).
 
 
OCLC, KVK, and OPAC/SBN/ICCU locate 1 copy worldwide of this report: Biblioteca della Società napoletana di storia patria (Naples). Other similar reports on the 1631 eruption are known, with each surviving in no more than a few copies.
 
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