SOLÓRZANO. AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, TO THE DUCHESS OF AVEIRO, MARIANA ISLANDS, 25 APRIL 1684

4 pages, folio (308 x 215mm.), 25 April 1684, Agadña [Mariana Islands], housed in portfolio and calf-backed box

Maggs, catalogue 491, Australia and the South Seas, item 52, £52 10s

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Account by Father Solórzano, a Jesuit missionary in the Mariana Islands in the western North Pacific Ocean. Solórzano gives news of the work accomplished by the Mariana Islands Mission, and mentions plans to explore and evangelise the southern continent. In the 1660s Spanish Jesuit missionaries set out to colonise the Mariana Islands. Afterwards a string of violent conflicts with the native population followed and Father Solórzano was one of the casualties.  The letter is addressed to Duchess Maria d’Aveiro, who was a patron of the missionary work in the Mariana Islands. She was a receiver of many letters, detailing the  Church’s progress in the region. Her archives, were sold to sold to Maggs Brothers in 1923 and subsequently dispersed. 

The letter summarises the year’s events in the Mariana Islands up to the 25 April 1684.  Father Manuel de Solórzano y Escobar relates that supplies had arrived in Umatac port (Guam) on 23 August 1683 commanded by the Sargento Mayor D. Damián de Esplana, in addition to the arrival of Father Antonio Xaramillo and one other priest as well as D. Josef de Quiroga y Losada. At that time the Captain General (the Governor) with nearly all the garrison were on the island of Rota preparing to conquer the island of Saipan. This invasion force sailed from Rota in early October 1683 at a time of year when there tended to be a tempest, known as the 'Cordon de San Francisco'. That year it was particularly bad and it was thought that the whole expedition, amounting to more than three hundred people, had perished. In the storm, the patache that was moored in Umatac was blown loose and wrecked and so further efforts of discovering nearby islands and the route to Terra Australis Incognita were thought ruined. Three days after the storm, however, they heard that the Governor with all his people had managed to return to Rota safely with the exception of seven small vessels that had been carrying local inhabitants. Eight days later the Governor and his expedition returned to Guam, and work began to repair the patache so that it could return to Manila with those that had earlier brought the supplies from there and to discover new islands. On 3 November 1683, the Governor died and was followed by Damian de Esplana. A new vessel was made from the remains of the patache and it sailed on 22 February 1684 to discover islands along a route where some had already been discovered.  They had no news yet of the success of this venture, nor did they expect to have any until the following year. The new Governor’s efforts was directed towards the conquest of the islands of Tinian and Saipan. An expedition commanded by D. José de Quiroga y Losada with 60 armed soldiers had been sent to this end. They had had no difficulties in Tinian but met some resistance in Saipan, though this was easily crushed and the Jesuit fathers who accompanied the expedition were soon able to get to work, baptizing the children and preaching to the adults. The expedition was then busy at work raising the bronze guns from the wreck of the Manila Galleon Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion (which had been wrecked off the coast of Saipan in 1638).  Solórzano had received news the previous day, 24 April 1684 that they had already raised sixteen small pieces of bronze artillery and were now raising the larger ones. Solórzano was waiting for the supply ship to arrive from Acapulco so that it could then be sent with the governor to Saipan to collect this artillery and see whether it was necessary to leave a small garrison on the island or to bring back everyone.  Not long after writing this letter, in July 1684, the native population rose in protest against Spanish occupation and Solórzano was martyred and decapitated in Agaña on Guam on 23 July 1684.