Noticias para servir de introducción á las representaciones del Ayuntamiento Constitucional de Santa Cruz de Tenerife al Congreso Nacional con fecha 10 de febrero y 28 de mayo último acerca de la division del territorio de aquella Isla y del pueblo donde debe fijarse la capitalidad de las Canarias.
Madrid: Oficina de don Francisco Martínez Dávila, Impresor de Cámara de S. M., 1821. In original blank wrappers. 12 p. Wrappers stained at the lower edges, inside clean. Overall in very good condition.
Scarce pamphlet proposing Santa Cruz de Tenerife the capital of the Canary Islands.
Appeared anonymously but written most likely by José Murphy y Meade (1774–1841) an ardent propagator of the commercial freedom of the archipelago, and the designation of Santa Cruz as the capital of the Canary Islands
José Murphy was a Spanish liberal politician and businessman, named the “Father of Santa Cruz de Tenerife” for his effort made for the city.
In 1821 Murphy visited Madrid to present himself at the Court, and published his manifestos on free commerce, and the designation Santa Cruz as the capital of the Canary Islands: “Breves reflexiones sobre los nuevos aranceles de Aduanas” and “Representación […]. Para que la capital de aquellas Islas […]”. Both works were published by Dávila in Madrid like the present one, and all are extremely scarce. In his monograph on Murphy, Guimerá claims that the only existing copy of Representación, held at the Archivo Acialcázar de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Guimerá, 1974), in his other paper Guimerá admits that he was not able to find a copy of the present Noticias (Guimerá, 1968; p. 16–7 [550–1]). We could not trace any copies in institutional holding of the work either.
Although by law only in 1833 became Santa Cruz de Tenerife the capital of the Canary Islands, the city was holding this position since the 1822 territorial division of Spain until 1927, when a decree ordered that the capital of the Canary Islands be shared with Las Palmas, as it remains at present.
Literature: Guimerá, P. M. (1968). El pleito insular : la división de la Provincia de Canarias (1840–1873). In.: Anuario de estudios atlánticos. Número 14. Madrid; Las Palmas: Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria; Guimerá, P. M. (1974). José Murphy: 1774–18.? : su vida, su obra, sus incognitas. Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Caja de Ahorros de Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Price: €800.00