Lead Books of Granada

Elizabeth Drayson is Senior College Lecturer in Spanish at Murray Edwards College and Peterhouse, University of Cambridge, UK. She specializes in medieval and Early Modern Spanish literature and cultural history, and her monograph The King and the Whore: King Roderick and La Cava was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2007.

“Across the book’s eleven chapters, the author surveys the history and use of the forgeries from their discovery to the present day, focusing particularly on questions of authorship and contexts of production and reproduction. … there is much in this book that will be of use to scholars and students alike, and the translations and summaries of sources are particularly welcome.” (Rosa Vidal Doval, Modern Language Review, Vol. 112, October, 2017)“Drayson’s well-written book is a timely addition to a renewed scholarly interest in early-modern forgery and its role in the cultivation of new forms of critical inquiry along with the cultivation of religious and national heritage through antiquities (forged or authentic), as exemplified in the works of Katrina Olds and Katie Harris, among others. … for non-Spanish speakers, Drayson’s translations throughout the text and in the appendices will be of particular value.” (Claire Gilbert, The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 102 (1), Winter, 2016)“This excellent book by Elizabeth Drayson, the first full-length study in English of the events surrounding the discovery in Granada in the late sixteenth century of strange manuscripts … is therefore a very welcome addition. The story itself is straightforward enough: how it evolved, who it involved, and what it was all about are, however, anything but straightforward and Drayson does an excellent job in navigating the at times treacherous waters on which some of the protagonists were sailing.” (Trevor J. Dadson, Hispanic Research Journal, Vol. 17 (3), June, 2016)“The target audience for this book will be Anglophone readers in search of a manageable overview of the affair of the lead books. The book’s usefulness is increased by its appendices of primary sources in translation, including an English translation of one of the plomos, a comprehensivelist of all twenty-two lead books, and a brief summary of each. For these efforts the author is to be commended.” (Katrina B. Olds, Bulletin of Spanish Studies, Vol. 93 (9), 2016)

• TimelineAcknowledgements Preface1. A Mystery Unfolds 2. Books of Spells or Sacred Revelations? 3. History, Religion, Culture: Conspiracy in Context 4. Prime Suspect: Alonso del Castillo 5. Miguel de Luna: Hoaxer, Heretic or Hero? 6. 'As Precious as the Ark of the Covenant' 7. Unification in Opposition: The Strategy Of Ambivalence 8. Opposing Factions 9. Acts of Rebellion 10. Fact, Fiction, Myth: The Afterlife of the Lead Books 11. The Lead Books Today Appendix 1. Titles of the Lead Books Appendix 2. Summaries of the Content of the Lead Books Appendix 3. Translation of the Lead Book entitled Libro de la Historia de la Verdad del Evangelio Appendix 4. A Translator at Work Appendix 5. 'Al monte santo de Granada', Sonnet by Luis de GóngoraSelect Bibliography Index