La pieza de Septiembre

Estructurada en dos volúmenes, la obra presenta portadas sobrias que combinan mayúsculas con una elegante cursiva para el subtítulo, el cual remata en un delicado florón o adorno tipográfico. El texto, dispuesto a línea tirada, exhibe una tipografía limpia y de excelente legibilidad, enriquecida con notas a pie de página que configuran su aparato crítico y documental. La estampación se llevó a cabo en Madrid en el taller del reconocido impresor Fermín Villalpando, una de las figuras más activas y relevantes de la tipografía del cambio de siglo, que trabajó para la Real Casa y las principales instituciones del reino.

La obra fue impresa en formato de 4º (21 cm), una dimensión idónea para lograr un libro funcional, manejable y accesible, adecuado para el estudio práctico y la consulta pedagógica de maestros y estudiosos de la educación de sordomudos. Ambos ejemplares lucen una encuadernación en pasta española. En las hojas de guarda se aprecian vistosos papeles decorados mediante la técnica del marmoleado, concretamente del tipo de gotas o piedras. Los cortes de las hojas se presentan al natural, sin teñir. En las páginas preliminares y en la portada se conservan marcas de propiedad que trazan la historia del ejemplar: el exlibris de la condesa de Bornos y el sello del Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Recuerdo (Madrid). Con posterioridad, el fondo se integró en la Biblioteca Complutense de la Compañía de Jesús de la Provincia de Toledo, ubicada en Alcalá de Henares, desde donde fue trasladado a la Universidad Pontificia Comillas en noviembre de 2015.

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We begin the 2026-2027 "Piece of the Month" cycle at the Comillas Pontifical University Library by commemorating the International Day of Deaf People, celebrated on September 23. To mark this occasion, we present to the university community the work of the polymath, linguist, writer, and prominent representative of the Spanish Universalist School, Lorenzo Hervás y Panduro, SJ (1735–1809): Escuela española de sordomudos, ó Arte para enseñarles áescribir y hablar el idioma español (Spanish School for Deaf-Mutes, or the Art of Teaching Them to Write and Speak the Spanish Language), published in Madrid in 1795. This two-volume work stands as a valuable testament to Enlightenment thought applied to the education of deaf people. It is an invitation to reflect on the evolution of educational models aimed at this community, as well as the contribution of the Society of Jesus and the Enlightenment to the recognition of their capabilities and the development of innovative pedagogical approaches.

For centuries, the prevailing belief was that those who could not speak also lacked the ability to fully reason or access knowledge. This conception began to transform in the Modern Age, thanks to the labor of various educators who demonstrated that deaf people could learn, communicate, and participate actively in intellectual life. Among these pioneers, the Benedictine monk Pedro Ponce de León (c. 1520–1584) stands out; at the monastery of San Salvador de Oña (Burgos), he developed the first documented method for educating young deaf nobles. His purpose was to provide them with speech, reading, writing, and the ability to manage their assets, thereby enabling them to overcome the legal barriers imposed on those considered incapable due to their lack of oral expression. Althoughhe left no written record of his methodology, his work was widely recognized by his contemporaries and laid the foundations for the education of deaf people.

This path was continued by Juan Pablo Bonet (1573–1633), one of the earliest scholars of Spanish phonetics and phonology. In 1620, Bonet published Reducción de las letras y arte para enseñar a hablar a los mudos in Madrid, considered the first printed work specifically dedicated to the subject. In it, he presented a teaching method based on speech articulation and incorporated a manual alphabet that achieved widespread dissemination and exerted a lasting influence throughout Europe. These educational experiences multiplied across the continent during the 17th and 18th centuries, an advancement that culminated in Paris with the creation of the first free public school for deaf people, founded by the Abbé Charles-Michel de l'Épée (1712–1789).

Lorenzo Hervás y Panduro, SJ, settled in Italy following the expulsion of the Society of Jesus in 1767, where he had the opportunity to learn about the school of Tommaso Silvestri—a pioneering institution that, since its opening in Rome in 1784, had applied the method of the Abbé l'Épée. After gathering and critically analyzing the knowledge accumulated by his predecessors, Hervás published his treatise in 1795: Escuela española de sordomudos, ó Arte para enseñarles a escribir y hablar el idioma español, a work that stands as a testament to the Jesuit commitment to education and inclusion. 

The author not only systematized current teaching methods and proposed a model for instructing deaf Spanish children in written and spoken language, but he also reflected on the nature of language, the role of signs in communication, and the cognitive abilities of this group. In doing so, he introduced advanced European trends to Spain, advocating for the need to universalize education and for the State to assume this responsibility through the creation of public schools. His intellectual legacy helped pave the way for the Royal School for Deaf-Mutes in Madrid to open its doors in the early 19th century.

In Volume II, folio 28, a manual alphabet is illustrated. The caption at the bottom reads: "I, Ignacio Puppi, a 13-year-old deaf-mute, by commission of my charitable and beloved instructor Señor Don Lorenzo Hervás, made this design. Rome, August 10, 1793."

Structured in two volumes, the work features understated title pages that combine uppercase typography with an elegant italic script reserved for the subtitle, which finishes with a delicate typographic ornament or fleurón. The text, arranged in a single-column layout, exhibits a clean and highly readable typeface, enriched with footnotes that make up its critical and documentary apparatus. The printing was carried out in Madrid at the workshop of the renowned printer Fermín Villalpando, one of the most active and significant figures in typography at the turn of the century, who worked for the Royal Household and the primary institutions of the kingdom.

The work was printed in 4º format ( 21 cm), an ideal size for creating a functional, manageable, and accessible book, well-suited for practical study and pedagogical reference by teachers and scholars of deaf education. Both copies are bound in pasta española . The endpapers feature striking decorated papers made using the marbled paper technique, specifically the "droplet" or "stone" pattern.The edges of the leaves are left natural and uncolored. The preliminary pages and the title page preserve ownership marks that trace the history of this copy: the ex-libris of the Countess of Bornos and the stamp of the Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Recuerdo (Madrid). Subsequently, the collection was integrated into the Complutense Library of the Society of Jesus of the Toledo Province, located in Alcalá de Henares, from where it was transferred to the Comillas Pontifical University in November 2015.

Bibliografía/Bibliography:

• Bonet, J. P. (1620). Reducción de las letras y arte para enseñar a hablar a los mudos. Francisco Abarca de Angulo. 

• L'Épée, C. M. de. (1784). La véritable manière d'instruire les sourds et muets. París.

• Silvestri, T. (1785). Maniera di far parlare e di istruire speditamente i sordi e muti di nascita. En A. G. Donnino (Ed.), L’arte di far hablar i sordomuti dalla nascita e l’abbate Tommaso Silvestri. Memorie (1889). Armanni.

• Hervás y Panduro, L. (1795). Escuela española de sordomudos, ó Arte para enseñarles á escribir y hablar el idioma español. Imprenta de Fermín Villalpando

• Sicard, R. A. (1803). Cours d'instruction d'un sourd-muet de naissance. París. 

• Zarco Cuevas, J., y Sánchez Pérez, J. A. (1936). Estudios Sobre Lorenzo Hervás y Panduro 1735-1809: La Escuela Española de Sordomudos Por José A. Sánchez Pérez. Lib. Enrique Prieto / Asociación Nacional de Historiadores de la Ciencia.

• Batllori, M. (1966). La cultura hispano-italiana de los jesuitas expulsos. Gredos.

• Corts Giner, M. I., y García Jiménez, E. (1985). La enseñanza de los sordomudos en España en los siglos XVII y XVIII. Análisis comparativo de las obras de J. P. Bonet y L. Hervás y Panduro. Educadores, (134), 553-571.

• Moreno Iturralde, J. I. (1988). Hervás y Panduro, Ilustrado español. Publicaciones de la de la Excma. Diputación Provincial de Cuenca.

• Sacks, O. (1991). Veo una voz. Viaje al mundo de los sordos. Anagrama.

• Skliar, C. (Ed.). (1999). Actualidad de la educación bilingüe para sordos. Masson.

• O’Neill, C. E., y Domínguez, J. M. (Eds.). (2001). Diccionario histórico de la Compañía de Jesús: biográfico-temático. Universidad Pontificia Comillas; Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu. 

• Plann, S. (2004). Una minoría silenciosa: la educación sorda en España. Fundación SCSE.

• Storch de Gracia y Asensio, J. G., y Gascón Ricao, A. (2004). Historia de la educación de los sordos en España y su influencia en Europa y América. Ramón Areces.

• Sánchez Espinosa, G. (2005). Un impresor ante la crisis de las Luces: Fermín Villalpando (1794-1830). Revista de Literatura, 67(134), 373–409. 

• Hervás y Panduro, L. (2008). Escuela española de sordomudos (Á. Herrero, Ed.). Universidad de Alicante. (Obra original publicada en 1795).

• Astorgano Abajo, Antonio. (2010). Lorenzo Hervás y Panduro (1735-1809). El gran lingüista de la Ilustración española. Fundación Ignacio Larramendi.

• Battaner Moro, E. (2012). Lenguas y signos. Influencia francesa en la Escuela Española de Sordomudos de Lorenzo Hervás y Panduro. Revista De Filología Románica, 29(2), 177-214