"Cortesía"

Abstract

This work, an anonymous and unpublished manuscript of the eighteenth century, is a concise treatise on Manners used at the school the Jesuits had at that time in Azkoitia. Doubtless, it can be considered as the oldest known "text-book" in the Basque language. Although the author is not known, F(ather) José Ignacio Arana points to F. Kardaberatz as the potential writer. The date of composition is also unknown but it must have been written between 1745 and 1767. This manuscript is not the original one though. In fact, it is a copy of around 1875 -lavishly amended by F. Arana- of a previous copy recorded at the beginning of the century. We believe, howewer, that the original manuscript lies behind the uncounted corrections made by F. Arana and that is the one we have tried to recover.