Valuable literary and historical epistolary, which contains the correspondence of Brigadier General Juan de Quiroga y Espinosa de los Monteros (1827-1900), a distinguished military officer from A Coruña with a liberal ideology who starred in some of the most outstanding military events of his time, such as the events of May 1848 in Madrid or those of Cádiz in 1868, receiving numerous decorations for his courageous performance, and he also played a prominent role for his research work as a member of the Corps of Engineers. In this field, his exhaustive report on the Gibraltar Border, published in 1866, remains today a first-rate historiographical source on everything related to the border conflict between the kingdoms of Spain and England, as well as his strategic study on the Eastern Question, published in 1855.



On his friendship and relationship with some of the most influential figures in Spanish political and military life of his time, such as General Prim, Emilio Castelar or Queen María Cristina herself, In this volume there are handwritten letters of great value, along with others that make direct reference to his works in prose and verse, or to his participation in the famous literary gatherings of Doña Emilia Pardo Bazán, wife of his cousin José de Quiroga and " dearest friend." From the cross correspondence that both illustrious people from A Coruña maintained, there are in this epistolary testimonies of their close friendship.



Among the numerous letters on literary matters, one stands out especially in which Doña Emilia relates the details of the tribute to Rosalía de Castro, celebrated on September 2, 1885 in La Coruña and sponsored by the city''s Circle of Artisans. And in another of them, as President of the Court of the Jury of the Floral Games of the same year, with the Galician writer from La Iglesia, the legal expert Maximiliano Linares Rivas and Juan de Quiroga himself acting as members, Doña Emilia describes, among lines, his confrontation with the Galician writer and scholar Manuel Murguía, Rosalía''s widower. The prizes were delivered by Emilio Castelar and José Carracio.



More than two hundred letters arranged chronologically assembled in an album, almost all addressed to Juan de Quiroga himself, except for some addressed to his brother-in-law, Field Marshal Juan José Villar y Flores , friend of Queen Mª Cristina and her second husband, Agustín Fernando Muñoz, Duke of Riánsares. And also some other letter addressed to his wife, Dª María Estrella de Lavalle Romero-Moctezuma, daughter of the II Count of Royal Prize, José Antonio Lavalle y Sánchez Trujillo, and of Ana Romero-Moctezuma y Ramos.

Some of the illustrious personalities that feature in this epistolary are:

- Fernán Caballero: an unpublished poem in his own handwriting and 35 letters in which politics and literature intertwine, with allusions to common friends or relatives, together with draft responses and several letters from poets of the time.

- Two letters from the writer Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda and three more addressed to other poets of the time.

- Ten letters from Emilia Pardo Bazán, 24 highly annotated cards and notes written in her residence in the Pazo de Meirás, with color coats of arms, and also a photograph of him on his desk, annotated and dedicated to Juan de Quiroga himself.

- Several letters addressed to the Galician writer Fanny Garrido, the writer Ramón Leyade Campoamor, the playwright Manuel Tam ayo y Baus and the poetesses Guiomar Torressao and María Dolores Carrera Heredia.

- Five letters from Queen María Cristina de Borbón, in which she shows her deep friendship with the family of Juan de Quiroga. And two more letters from Agustín Fernando Muñoz.

- Three letters from María Luisa Fernanda de Borbón y Borbón, Infanta of Spain.

- Cross correspondence with illustrious figures of her time: generals Francisco Serrano, Martínez Campos, Dulce Garay, Prim and O''Donnell, and also with politicians and intellectuals such as José Moreno Nieto, Emilio Castelar and Fernando de Gabriel y Ruíz de Apodaca, a soldier and Elizabethan deputy.

- The volume also contains a very valuable epistolary of José Villar i Flores with the General Santana, first constitutional president of Santo Domingo, José de la Gándara, last Governor of the former Spanish colony, alluding to the Independence of Santo Domingo and Cuba.

Provenance: Private collection