Wednesday, April 14, 2004, a rainy afternoon in Providence, the city with quaint old houses, as H.P. Lovecraft put it. Inside the century-old building of The John Carter Brown Library, located on the thoroughly soaked Brown Green, a ceremony is conducted in the MacMillan Reading Room. The Ambassador of Spain to the United States, HE. Javier Ruperéz, has just been presented with the first volume of the Hakluyt Society edition of the Malaspina Expedition. After remarking on the importance of this publication, the ambassador turns his attention to the Director of the John Carter Brown Library, Dr Norman Fiering. In recognition of the services of the Library to the promotion of the culture and history of both Spain and the former Spanish colonies, Norman is appointed Commander in the Orden de Isabel la Católica.