Spanish lyrical poem celebrating a Hajj

Pano y Ruata, Mariano de. Las coplas del peregrino de Puey Monçon, viaje a la Meca en el siglo XVI.

€ 2,500.00

First edition of this Spanish lyrical poem describing a pilgrimage of Muslims from Spanish Aragon to Mecca, transcribed, edited, and published by the Spanish politician and writer Mariano de Pano y Ruata (1847-1948). Pano y Ruata has included one plate of a facsimile page from an Arabic manuscript, a photographic plate showing the Kaaba during the Hajj, and a map of the proposed travels of the poet.

The anonymous Spanish Muslim author of the poem began his long journey from Puey Monçón, a town in Aragon known today as Pueyo de Santa Cruz, likely at the end of the 16th century, or possibly the start of the 17th. The Hajj journey then follows one of the traditional paths for Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula: sailing from Valencia to Tunis, and then hugging the southern shore of the Mediterranean from Tunis to Alexandria before turning inland to Cairo, the Sinai Peninsula, and onwards into the Arabian Peninsula and the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

An important poetic record of both 19th century Spanish historiography and 16th century Spanish Muslim culture and literature, in an appealing modern binding.

Wrappers bound in, rebacked and repaired, otherwise in fine condition.