Sometime in the past month, the Cántaro Institute managed to acquire a protestant literary treasure from a used antiquarian bookstore in Madrid, Spain. The Old Spanish Reformers (Los Reformistas Antiguos Españoles), compiled by Luis de Usoz y Rio (1805-1865), is an almost complete 24-volume collection of all the major and minor works of the Spanish Reformers.
These sixteenth-century documents were rescued from obscurity and published as a collection beginning in the year 1847 to its completion in 1880, it was then republished as a limited-run facsimile set in 1983. The Cántaro Institute now owns one of these sets, which is presently considered a costly rarity.
As part of our effort to recover our protestant heritage (the historical aspect of the Institute’s operations), we intend to make this series widely available to the English and Spanish-speaking world for the first time.
What prevents us from immediately publishing this material? The fact that these documents are in nineteenth-century Castilian (Luis de Usoz y Rio did us a great favor, it would have been more difficult if it was still in sixteenth-century Castilian) and have not been translated into English before. This means that we would have to transcribe, translate, and then publish this material in order to grace the twenty-first-century church with this rich protestant treasure, which has for the most part been forgotten. The cost, however, of recovering and producing such a work (24-volumes altogether) is approximately $10,000 CAD. Thus far, we have been able to raise $3,000, which means that we can now commence this project, and once we have raised the full amount, we will then be able to bring the project to its completion.
As to what titles this series consists of, here is a list of all that is included in the set:
- Vol. 1: Carrascón by Fernando de Tejeda (16th century)
- Vol. 2: Consolatory Epistle by Juan Pérez de Pineda (1499-1567)
- Vol. 3: The Image of the Antichrist and Letter to Philip II by Juan Pérez de Pineda (1499-1567)
- Vol. 4: Two Dialogues by Juan de Valdés (c. 1490-1541)
- Vol. 5: The Arts of the Spanish Inquisition by R. Gonzalez de Montes (16th century)
- Vol. 6: The Two Treatises on the Pope and Mass by Cipriano de Valera (1531-1602)
- Vol. 7: Brief Treatise of Doctrine Useful for Every Christian by Juan Pérez de Pineda (1499-1567)
- Vol. 8: A Treatise Confirming the Christian Faith of the Barbary Captives, Warning to the Roman Church regarding Jubilees by Cipriano de Valera (1531-1602) and The Reformed Spaniard by Juan de Nicolás (16th century).
- Vol. 9: One Hundred and Ten Considerations of the Professed Christian Faith by Juan de Valdés (c. 1490-1541)
- Vol. 10: Commentary on Romans by Juan de Valdés (c. 1490-1541)
- Vol. 11: Commentary on 1 Corinthians by Juan de Valdés (c. 1490-1541)
- Vol. 12: Two Letters directed to the Emperor Charles V and the States of the Empire by Francisco de Enzinas (1518-1552)
- Vol. 13: Commentary on the Latin Arts of the Spanish Inquisition by Luis de Usoz y Rio
- Vol. 14: Spanish Version of John Calvin’s The Institutes of the Christian Religion (I) by John Calvin, Cipriano de Valera (1531-1602)
- Vol. 15: Spanish Version of John Calvin’s The Institutes of the Christian Religion (II) by John Calvin, Cipriano de Valera (1531-1602)
- Vol. 16: A Christian Alphabet for the Basics of the Christian Faith by Juan de Valdés (c. 1490-1541)
- Vol. 17: One Hundred and Ten Considerations with Explanatory Notes (I) by Juan de Valdés
- Vol. 18: One Hundred and Ten Considerations with Explanatory Notes (II) by Juan de Valdés
- Vol. 19: Brief Summary of the Christian Faith by Juan Pérez de Pineda (1499-1567)
- Vol. 20: Summary of Christian Doctrine by Constantino Ponce de la Fuente (1502-1559)
- Vol. 21: The Story of the Martyrdom of Juan Diaz by Anonymous (16th century)
- Vol. 22: Dialogue of the Tongue by Anonymous (16th century)
- Vol. 23: The Psalter by Juan de Valdes (c. 1490-1541)
- Vol. 24: Little Treatises by Juan de Valdes (c. 1490-1541)
In addition to these titles, we intend to EXPAND this set by adding some of the titles which have since been discovered, such as:
- Vol. 25: Confession of a Sinner by Constantino Ponce de la Fuente (1502-1559)
- Vol. 26: Christian Doctrine by Constantino Ponce de la Fuente (1502-1559)
- Vol. 27: Exposition of the First Psalm of David by Constantino Ponce de la Fuente (1502-1559)
- Vol. 28: The Spanish Confession of the Christian Faith and The Spanish Catechism by Casiodoro de Reina (1520-1594)
- Vol. 29: Commentaries on Portions of St. Matthew and St. John, and Letters by Casiodoro de Reina (1520-1594)
- Vol. 30: Juan Diaz’s Summary of the Christian Religion (16th century) and Juan Valdes’ Catechism (16th century)
You might be surprised to know that we have been able to extract a title from Volume 8 which has since been translated and published as a standalone title by the Institute, A Treatise to Confirm the Christian Faith of the Barbary Captives by Cipriano de Valera. We also published, just last December, The Spanish Confession of the Christian Faith by Casiodoro de Reina, so in terms of a sneak peek of all that’s included, these two publications are must reads. As to where you can get a hold of these books, thanks to a new venture with Paideia Press, effective January 2024, you can now order these books through their online store at paideiapress.ca as well as through any major online book retailer.
It is thanks to the generous financial support of ministry partners that we can bring projects such as this into realization. Would you consider becoming a partner today?