Books under the glowing iron: fire marks in the collections of the historical library

Abstract

The fire marks, recently located in the Francisco Guerra collection of the Biblioteca Histórica de la Universidad Complutense, are presented as a contribution to the rich field of study of colonial provenances. Placed on the edges of the books, this marking practice, used by the religious
communities of New Spain, was intended not only to reinforce the security of the collection, but also to distinguish the most singular pieces. This task of identification has been made possible thanks to the cooperation of the Collective Catalogue of Fire Marks, promoted by "José María Lafragua" Historical Library and the "Franciscan Library", with the aim of reconstructing the dispersed collection of colonial libraries, and in which, since 2021, the "Marqués de Valdecilla" Historical Library has been participating.
The investigation of these charred signs is enriched by the study of other peculiarities, which bring new perspectives to the "material" history of the ancient book.