M. Moleiro Editor is a publishing house specialising in high-quality

facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of r ...

reproductions of

codices The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

, maps and

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...

s. Founded in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in 1991, the firm has reproduced many masterpieces from the history of illumination.

Background

In 1976, whilst still a student, Manuel Moleiro created Ebrisa, a publishing house specialised in books on art, science and cartography which collaborated on a variety of joint enterprises with other publishers including

Times Books Times Books (previously the New York Times Book Company) is a publishing imprint owned by the New York Times Company and licensed to Henry Holt and Company. Times Books began as the New York Times Book Company in 1969, when The New York Times Co ...

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

, Macmillan,

Edita Edita (E-dee-ta) is a Slavic female first name, a form of Edith. It may refer to: *Edita Abdieski (born 1984), Swiss singer * Edita Adlerová (born 1971), Czech opera singer * Edita Aradinović (born 1993), Serbian singer * Edita Brychta (born 1961 ...

, Imprimerie Nationale and

Franco Maria Ricci Franco Maria Ricci (2 December 1937 – 10 September 2020) was an Italian art publisher and magazine editor. Amongst his publications is '' FMR'', a Milan-based bi-monthly art magazine published in Italian, English, German, French, and Spanish for ...

. In 1991, Moleiro decided to create a company with his own name and brand. Since then he has specialised in identical reproductions of some of the greatest medieval and Renaissance bibliographic treasures, obtaining authorisation to do so from libraries and museums of great universal renown such as the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

, the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

, the

Morgan Library & Museum The Morgan Library & Museum (originally known as the Pierpont Morgan Library and colloquially known the Morgan) is a museum and research library in New York City, New York, U.S. Completed in 1906 as the private library of the banker J. P. Morg ...

, the

Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5.36 million v ...

, New York, the

National Library of Russia The National Library of Russia (NLR, , ''РНБ''), located in Saint Petersburg, is the first, and one of three national public libraries in Russia. The NLR is currently ranked among the world's major libraries. It has the second biggest libr ...

, the

Huntington Library The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington and Arabella Huntington in San Marino, California, United State ...

and the

Gulbenkian Foundation The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One of the wealthiest charitable founda ...

, Lisbon. To certify this labour of cultural diffusion, each facsimile has a companion volume of studies by manuscript experts.

Publishing activities

As a result of publishers applying the term "facsimile" to different types of reproduction of poor quality in recent decades, M. Moleiro Editor decided to label their codices "quasi-original" to reflect the accuracy of their reproductions. In 2010, the French newspaper ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'' wrote, "The Spanish publishing house Moleiro has invented the "quasi original", a more appropriate term for describing the extremely painstaking artisan work involved in manufacturing these works which are more like clones than facsimiles". Indeed, no expense is spared in any of their editions to duplicate the texture, smell, thickness and variable density of paper and parchment, the gold in the miniatures, the leather bindings, and thread used to sew them. The resulting copies are therefore deemed to be clones and not merely reproductions. All this publisher's editions are unique, first editions, limited to 987 numbered copies authenticated by notary public. In 2001, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' described the work of this publishing house as "The Art of Perfection". One year later in the same newspaper, Allegra Stratton wrote that "the Pope sleeps with one of Moleiro's quasi-originals by his bed".

Landmark works reproduced by M. Moleiro Editor

M. Moleiro Editor has reproduced several works by

Beatus of Liébana Beatus of Liébana (; ) was a monk, theologian, and author of the '' Commentary on the Apocalypse'', mostly a compendium of previous authorities' views on the biblical '' Book of Revelation'' or ''Apocalypse of John''. This had a local influenc ...

– the ''Cardeña Beatus'', the ''Arroyo Beatus'', the ''Silos Beatus'', the ''Beatus of Ferdinand I and Sancha'' and the '' Girona Beatus'' – and also the three volumes of the '' Bible of Saint Louis'', deemed to be the most important bibliographic monument of all time with a total of 4887 miniatures. Their catalogue also features many books of hours such as the ''

Isabella Breviary The Isabella Breviary (Ms. 18851) is a late 15th-century illuminated manuscript now in the British Library, London. Queen Isabella I of Castile was given the manuscript shortly before 1497 by her ambassador Francisco de Rojas to commemorate the do ...

'', the ''Great Hours of Anne of Brittany'' and the ''Book of Hours of Joanna I of Castile''; medicinal treatises such as the ''Book of Simple Medicines'' and ''

Tacuinum Sanitatis The ''Taccuinum Sanitatis'' is a medieval handbook mainly on health aimed at a cultured lay audience. Originally an 11th-century Arab medical treatise composed by Ibn Butlan of Baghdad under the name of ''Taqwīm aṣ‑Ṣiḥḥa'' (). In the ...

'' and cartographic masterpieces such as the ''

Miller Atlas The Miller Atlas, also known as Lopo Homem-Reineis Atlas, is a richly illustrated Portugal, Portuguese partial world atlas dated from 1519, including a dozen charts. It is a joint work of the cartographers Lopo Homem, Pedro Reinel and Jorge Rei ...

'' and the '' Vallard Atlas''.

Complete list of "quasi-original" editions

* Beatus of Liébana, Codex of Ferdinand I and Sancha of Castille and León * Beatus of Liébana, Gerona Codex *Beatus of Liébana, Monastery of San Andrés de Arroyo *Beatus of Liébana, Monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña *Beatus of Liébana, Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos * Bible moralisée of Naples * Bible of Saint Louis * Book of Felicity *Book of Hours of Charles VIII *Book of Hours of Louis of Orleans *Book of Hours of Maria of Navarre *Book of Simple Medicines *Book of Testaments * Book of Treasures *''Catalan Mappa Mundi'' *Christopher Columbus’s Chart *Genealogy of Christ *

Grandes heures of Anne of Brittany The Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany (''Les Grandes Heures d'Anne de Bretagne'' in French) is a Book of Hours, book of hours, commissioned by Anne of Brittany, Queen of France to two kings in succession, and Illuminated manuscript, illuminated ...

Heures de Charles d'Angoulême The Heures de Charles d'Angoulême is a book of hours commissioned in the late 15th century, probably around 1480, by Charles, Count of Angoulême, father of king Francis I of France. It is now in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, und ...

* Great Canterbury Psalter * Hours of Henry VIII * Hours of Henry IV of France * Hours of Charles of Angoulême * Hours of Jean de Montauban *

Martyrology of Usuard The ''Martyrology of Usuard'' is a work by Usuard, a monk of the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.Miller Atlas The Miller Atlas, also known as Lopo Homem-Reineis Atlas, is a richly illustrated Portugal, Portuguese partial world atlas dated from 1519, including a dozen charts. It is a joint work of the cartographers Lopo Homem, Pedro Reinel and Jorge Rei ...

*Prayer Book of Albert of Brandenburg * Romance of the Knight Zifar *''

Splendor Solis ''Splendor Solis'' (English: "The Splendour of the Sun") is a version of the illuminated alchemical text attributed to Salomon Trismosin. This version dates from around 1582. The earliest version, written in Central German, is dated 1532–15 ...

'' *''

'' *The Apocalypse of 1313 *The Flemish Apocalypse * The Golf Book (Book of Hours) *The Gulbenkian Apocalypse *The Book of Hours of Joanna I of Castile, Joanna the Mad *''Theatrum Sanitatis'' *Theriaka and Alexipharmaka * Tractatus de Herbis *Universal Atlas of Diogo Homem * Universal Atlas of Fernao Vaz Dourado * Vallard Atlas

References

External links

Moleiro.com: M. Moleiro Editor website

Moleiro.com: ''The Times'' article
(April 23, 2001)

(September 30, 2010)
Moleiro.com: ''Le Monde'' article
(November 19, 2011)
Lefigaro.fr: ''Le Figaro'' magazine article
(January 13, 2011)
Moleiro.com: ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' article
(January 2, 2011) {{Authority control Book publishing companies of Spain Illuminated manuscripts Mass media in Barcelona Companies based in Barcelona Publishing companies established in 1991 Spanish companies established in 1991