The Explicacion de el catechismo by Nicolás Yapuguay (1724) in the light of the copy of the Arata Collection

Abstract

Among the editions from the Jesuit mission press, the Explicacion de el catechismo... by Nicolás Yapuguay (Santa María la Mayor, 1724) is known from a limited number of copies over the world. This paper describes and illustrates a recently discovered exemplary, which originally belonged to the bibliophile Pedro N. Arata. A comparison among all surviving copies reveals differences in the number and completeness of the parts they are made of, the presence of a pagination failure in the third part, the level and quality of restoration they underwent, their property marks, and the presence of marginalia. The frequent lack of the catechism text (part IV) suggests that the Explicacion originally circulated in both complete and incomplete versions, perhaps to meet different needs of the intended users. In the past, private collectors played an important role in the rescue and preservation of copies of this work, which presently are mostly kept at non-ecclesiastical public collections. Guaraní marginalia, which abound in the Arata copy but also occur on other three, suggest that some exemplaries remained for long time within guaraní communities due to their value for catechesis. This would help to explain the comparatively high survival rate of this book, of which 15 copies exist of an edition that probably amounted to only 30-40 exemplaries.