El “Autorum elenchus” de Francisco de Castro: lecturas retóricas de un jesuita del s. XVII

Abstract

In Córdoba, 1611 and Seville, 1625 the Spanish Jesuit Francisco de Castro published a rhetoric handbook entitled De arte rhetorica dialogi quatuor, at the end of which he included a list of specialized works in rhetoric (“Autorum elenchus”), which is a valuable document to further our knowledge of Jesuit bibliographical sources. This feature, uncommon in similar books published at that time in Spain, was preceded by a brief statement where Castro declared that the elenchus contains the books that he had seen and read from cover to cover and from many of which he had learnt a great deal and taken information for composing his treatise. This paper offers the modern edition and study of the above mentioned catalogue and puts forward the idea that the initial statement should not be taken literally, since the elenchus seems to contain references to authors and works which were probably only indirectly known of by the Jesuit. The aim of including these secondary references, which were mentioned in other catalogues as important readings for an accomplished rhetorician, would have been to strengthen Castro’s prestige, as well as the authority of his rhetoric.