The five 17th-century volumes belonging to the work of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz were kept in the Convent of Carmelitas Descalzas de Santa Ana in Seville. The nuns had a stamp printed on it proving their ownership, known as a bookplate. However, it is not known how these ended up in the hands of a resident of Catalonia who died about ten years ago, whose bibliographical collection ended up in the hands of a “well-known bookshop in Madrid,” according to a statement by the Civil Guard. This trade, in turn, sold them to a Mexican businessman who loved ancient literature. When he died the works were acquired by an American who sold three works at auction at the Swann Auction Galleries in New York (USA). Two of the specimens, printed with the monastery’s ownership stamp, were delivered to Spain yesterday. They are waiting to recover the third, which does not bear the seal of the monastery but undoubtedly has the same origin.
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The Historical Heritage Department of the Central Operations Unit of the Guardia Civil (UCO) has been carrying out the so-called Ellis operation since 2021. Researchers attempted to unravel the smuggling system using old printed books in Madrid and Barcelona in the late 17th century, particularly the work of the writer Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (Mexico 1648-1695). The alarm went off when the New York auction house announced three were up for sale.
The intervention of the Ministry of Culture and Sport made it possible to stop the planned bid for the three specimens, which went on the market between 80,000 and 120,000 dollars, exceeding the 50,000 euros that Spanish law provides as a “smuggling crime” reference on assets that are part of the national historical heritage,” the Guardia Civil explains in a note.
The Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the New York City District Attorney’s office investigated the case and found that under US law, two of the books could be returned to Spain because “they had the seal of the monastery and that was the rightful owner of the works.”
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a writer who lived in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, in what is now modern-day Mexico. She is an author of great importance in the Spanish Golden Age, both for the depth and quality of her works and for the fact that she is considered by a large part of the intellectual community to be the first feminist author in the Spanish Empire. The Hispanic Dorothy Schons, a great connoisseur of her work, considered her “the initiator of the feminist movement in America, two hundred years before the American suffragist Susan B. Anthony.”
Due to the revolutionary characteristics of the Hieronymite Sister’s work, social pressures destroyed much of her work and she even stopped writing and devoted herself fully to monastic life. “The restoration of original volumes of his works is considered essential to preserving the values on which Western democracy is based,” the ministry said.
The crimes investigated by the Civil Guard, particularly those related to smuggling, often have little criminal experience. This is due to the cover-up activity of the traffickers who, knowing that the crime will dictate over time, “wait to offer various cultural objects in their possession for sale in different countries,” explains Interior.
However, as stipulated in Article 29.1 of the Spanish Historical Heritage Code, “Movable property that is part of the historical heritage and is exported without the necessary authorization belongs to the State. These assets are inalienable and non-statute-barred.
On that occasion, orders from both Homeland Security (HSI) and the New York District Attorney’s Office through their Antiquities Trafficking Unit were instrumental in the recovery of two of the books. “Recovery of the third is pending. and although it does not bear the seal of the monastery, it was also exported illegally.”
The handover of the works took place yesterday at the New York State Attorney’s Office. Prosecutor Alvin Bragg has given the copies to Alfonso López Malo, the UCO’s colonel. The event was also attended by Consul General of Spain Caridad Batalla Junco, United States Ambassador to Spain Julyssa Reinoso and New York State Attorney General Antiquities Sales Director Matthew Bogdanos.
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