Among the orders that the Pamplona printing presses received in past centuries, along with the publication of books, were sheets of different sizes with different contents. Letters of brotherhood, indulgences, thesis of Degrees, calendars, exam announcements and festive posters were ordered and designed in the establishments of the capital of Navarre. The ephemeral nature of almost all of them and their limited print runs, as they were used in many cases for very specific events, means that we hardly know of a few of them, as there is no extensive catalog of them, both in the bibliographic programs of study and in the inventories of the archives. We will focus on some of them published until the arrival of the 20th century.
 

thesis or sheets of Degrees

Throughout the centuries of the Ancient Regime, there were two universities in Navarre, the University of Santiago in Pamplona, run by the Dominicans, and the University of Irache in the Benedictine monastery of the same name. The lists of those who obtained Degrees in those centers are known to us thanks to the programs of study of Salvador and Conde and Ibarra, respectively. On the other hand, the percentage of the thesis of Degrees that were printed in Pamplona presses at the time, are quite exceptional. Their production constituted one of the so-called "minor works" of the printing establishments.    

In these printed documents, the conclusions of an academic Degree , in Latin, were recorded. They were an expression of the apparatus and magnificence of the graduation ceremonies. Their value lies not only in the interesting information they provide, but also in the prominence given to artistic and typographic work, since together with the text we find two types of engravings. On the one hand, the one that appears with great prominence in front of the dedication, made with intaglio printing plates and, on the other hand, some metal or wooden dies with vegetal, animalistic or other ornamental decorations that border the four parts of the rectangle. These are sheets of great beauty and originality, which are the result of a complex creative process, since it involves subjecting the paper or taffeta to successive passes through the presses. 

As far as the support is concerned, a large percentage were made on paper, reserving for the most outstanding recipients more noble materials, such as silks and colored taffetas and even vellum. The basic structure of the thesis of Degree, consists of a heading, with the coat of arms of the godfather, or that of the author of the thesis , or that of the city, or that of a religious order, or a devotional print, with which the author was identified, which could be his saint patron saint, that of his native town, or the founder or protector of a religious order. Very rarely are portraits of the godfather, or of an important personality of the family of the graduate. In Navarre we have not located any of these printed documents with a portrait. The name of the patron or godfather, who has invested his money in the student's training , appears next. Opposite is the name of the author of the thesis , under which is placed an explanatory text of the thesis supported, accompanied by the main conclusions of the same. This is followed by the name of the director and the date on which the ceremony will be held, accompanied by the credentials of the president of the tribunal.

Javier Itúrbide published a curious piece of information that speaks of the complexity of the composition of this subject of prints, which dates back to 1669. In that year Martín Gregorio Zabala complained about the bad management of the workshop by his mother Isabel de Labayen, at the same time that he praised her efforts to reconduct the family business with orders for thesis de Degrees, also known as conclusions, which the Jesuits entrusted to him. 

We know thesis of this subject with the images of the Trinity of Erga, the Virgins of the Wonders and of the Way of Pamplona, Zuberoa of Garde, of the Rosary and of Carmen of Pamplona. The only one preserved with the Virgin of Las Maravillas is kept in the convent of Agustinas Recoletas, it was stamped by Antonio Castilla in 1789. 

In the file General de Navarra there is one on paper, printed in 1746, in the printing house of Ezquerro, which incorporates in the center of the upper part an engraving (1732, Juan José de la Cruz) of the image of the Virgen del Carmen de los Calzados de Pamplona. Another one that introduces the beautiful engraving of the Virgin of the Rosary of the Dominicans of Pamplona, in yellow taffeta, was shown in the exhibition on Juan de Goyeneche, belongs to the thesis of Degrees of Juan Francisco Alduán and was printed in the Pamplona printing house of José Longás, in 1790. 

Eduardo Morales has studied some of them, such as the one belonging to Antonio Jesús Claessens, illustrated with a small engraved image of St. Anthony and printed by Pascual Ibáñez in 1768. Another one by the graduate Joaquín Echeverría, belongs to the typography of Antonio Castilla and was defended at the seminar Conciliar de San Miguel de Pamplona in 1782. That of Juan Jerónimo Irigoyen took place in the seminar Conciliar of Pamplona and incorporated the image of the Trinity of Erga, in 1788 (Joaquín Domingo). Father Pérez Goyena gives an account of many others, among which we will mention those of Juan Francisco de Aldana, illustrated with Saint Luis Gonzaga (Benito Cosculluela, 1788) and of Sebastián de Arizcun, with Saint Thomas Aquinas (Antonio Castilla, 1757). Velasco in his study on the Heart of Jesus in Navarre, collects the one of José Vicente Barreneche, with the image of the Heart of Jesus (1746, Anchuela printing house). The image of Saint Joseph in two versions of José Lamarca is found in two Pamplona conclusions of 1759 (Miguel Antonio Domech) and 1775 (Pascual Ibáñez). 

Regarding those that incorporate heraldic coats of arms, although there must have been numerous, we have located several. One of them presents the coat of arms of the knight of Santiago Don Esteban Echeverría, engraved by Don Dionisio de Ollo in 1672 and another, corresponding to the one defended in the seminar of San Miguel de Pamplona by Manuel Ignacio Beasoain y Paulorena, in 1779, presents the arms of the Duke of Granada de Ega and Count of Javier, engraved by the silversmith Manuel Beramendi, in the printing house of Benito Cosculluela. Another illustrated with the heraldic coat of arms of the town of Cascante between two winged figures and a garland of elegant design, was published in Zaragoza in 1773. The engraving of the coat of arms is signed "Aguesca", which must correspond either to Jerónimo Agüesca, an engraver from Huesca in the mid-17th century, or to his daughter Teresa, who caused great admiration since her childhood when working with burins.

Examinations and qualifications

A huge print of the high school of medicine is preserved in the file Municipal de Pamplona. It was made at the Erasun Printing House in 1837, precisely the year of the suppression of the Royal high school of medicine, surgery and pharmacy. This institution had been created by virtue of the agreement of the Cortes de Navarra of 1828-1829 with the purpose of facilitating the study of those specialties to the students of Navarra. It was located in the old hospital, today the Museum of Navarra, and was inaugurated for the 1829-1830 academic year with a lecture by its former headmaster director, the Majorcan physician Jaime Salvá. It had five Chairs, three of surgery, one of medicine and another of pharmacy and the students were required to be sixteen years old and to have completed two years of Latin studies. The duration of the programs of study varied among the different specialties, from two to five years. Once the exams were passed, the degree scroll was awarded. The experience was short-lived, since in July 1837 it was suppressed due to the political status , the war and the lack of public resources. The lack of recognition of the degrees granted by the high school outside Navarre also contributed to its disappearance. Although its activities were resumed the following year, in 1839 it was definitively eliminated. Its professors joined the universities where there were vacancies, except for Rufino Landa, who remained in Pamplona.

In the ten courses in which he taught teaching , 250 degrees in medicine and surgery, thirty in pharmacy and ten in doctorate were issued. In that count, almost 100 degrees corresponded to romancist surgeons, so called because of their use of the romance languages, since their main knowledge came from the daily internship .

As far as professional titles were concerned, they were not frequent. Many corporations dispatched them in copies of amanuensis. The one of 1652 in favor of Lucas Pinedo, as overseer of painting of the brotherhood of painters of San Lucas de Pamplona, with an enormous coat of arms of the Hispanic monarchy, stands out. The same design with the coat of arms and a rich border was used in the same year to grant titles of painter.

Announcements for the provision of posts in the Cathedral Music Chapel

The cathedral file preserves some large sheets of advertisement for the provision of the position chapel master of the same. The printing in this case is justified, because they traveled via mail to different collegiate churches and cathedrals so that they could be made public among the possible interested parties to make the civil service examination or present the corresponding merits.

In the one that was ordered to be printed in 1780 to fill the position of chapel teacher, vacant due to Withdrawal of its titular Juan Antonio Múgica in 1779, among the obligations of the future teacher are specified the composition of thirty-six villancicos (musical compositions in language vernacular), distributed as follows: seventeen for Corpus Christi, seven for the Assumption, another seven for the calenda and matins of Christmas, three for Easter, one for St. Francis Xavier, another for the Immaculate Conception and another for the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. The chapter reserved the option of choosing the most suitable, skillful and capable and among the obligations of the nominee were to govern or direct the chapel, to instruct in music and composition the six infants of the same, who would reside in his house, for which he would be given 40 reales per month for each one for their maintenance, in addition to clothing, footwear and bedding.

We know of other printed documents of other edicts for the provision of other positions in the chapel. In 1760, for sochantre, a specific tessitura of contralto was required, a clear voice, "with the necessary gala and movement and who sings with style and skill" in plainchant, good pronunciation and medium intelligence in organ singing. In 1781, for tenor, it was required that he be a presbyter, setting his annual income at more than 160 ducats, with the obligation to be of good manners, skill in music "and voice points from low Cesolfaut to high Gesolreut".

In the ecclesiastical field, there are also large printed documents with episcopal decrees, from the 18th century onwards and with different themes.
 

Sanferminero posters in the 19th century: color and lithographs

It is a much better known topic because of the interest that the Sanfermines have awakened in society, because of the numerous collectors who have been looking for them for decades and because of the intrinsic interest that they possess, having been designed by outstanding artists and painters. The novelty of the nineteenth-century poster lay in the employment of lithographed images, as well as in the color. Both characteristics made them especially admired by the population and their publication was awaited with expectation.

Due to their popular and festive projection, several posters from the last decades of the 19th century stand out, made in the prestigious Portabella establishment in Zaragoza, although, on several occasions, the design belongs to different artists from Navarre. It is not surprising that the posters of 1884, 1887, 1890, 1891, 1891, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1904, 1906, 1907 and 1908 were made in this establishment, given that it was one of the most prestigious lithographic companies at national level in the period between centuries, also achieving high international recognition.

Ignacio Urricelqui has studied this topic, pointing out its interest from a triple point of view: formal, thematic and iconographic. Aesthetically, they evolved from the nineteenth-century posters in which the text predominated over a very reduced image, to the poster that focuses all its interest on the image. The broad theme of the fiesta provided an abundant repertoire for the Sanferminero poster. The aforementioned author points out five main phases in his development. 

The file Municipal preserves some primitive posters made in establishments of the city and provides news of others. Among the first ones we will mention those corresponding to 1841, made in black and white with the coats of arms of Pamplona and Navarra and a bullfighting scene in the upper part with a foot of the Imprenta de Eransus. The one of 1846 was made by E. López, incorporating color with large golden letters and a scene in an oval with the picador, the bull and the bullfighter, still dressed in the eighteenth century style. The 1852 one was made by Ignacio García in Pamplona and incorporates a large lithograph of the city's bullring in the upper third. The great novelty is the color of the illustration in the bullfighters' clothing and in the background of the boxes. It is a carefully executed work. The one of 1867 is the work of the establishment of Darío Aguirre, it does not have color, and sample in the upper part the bullring divided in half with different bullfighting suertes.