Chapter IV: Introduction

In Chapter VI of the immortal work, _Don Quijote de la Mancha_, is given a glowing account of the burning of the books to which were ascribed the mental derangement of the “ingenioso hidalgo.” In the passage in question, Cervantes, speaking through the priest, pays the following tribute to the Catalan romance of chivalry, _Tirant lo Blanch_:

[1]Válame Dios, dijo el Cura, dando una gran voz.—Que aquí esté Tirante el Blanco! Dádmele acá, compadre; que hago cuenta que he hallado en él un tesoro de contento y una mina de pasatiempos. Aquí está D. Quirieleisón de Montalbán, valeroso caballero, y su hermano Tomás de Montalbán, y el caballero Fonseca, con la batalla que el valiente de Tirante hizo con el alano, y las agudezas de la doncella Placerdemivida, con los amores y embustes de la viuda Reposada, y la señora Emperatriz, enamorada de Hipólito, su escudero. Dígoos verdad, señor compadre, que, por su estilo es éste el mejor libro del mundo: aquí comen los caballeros, y duermen, y mueren en sus camas, y hacen testamento antes de su muerte, con otras cosas de que todos los demás libros deste género carecen. Con todo eso, os digo que merecía el que lo compuso, pues no hizo tantas necedades de industria, que le echaran á galeras por todos los días de su vida.[2]

[1] Bless me, cried the Priest in a low voice, and is _Tirante
the White_ here? Give it to me, gossip, for I reckon that I have
found herein a treasure of delight and a mine of entertainment.
Here you have Don Qurieleison of Montalvan, the valiant cavalier,
and his brother Thomas of Montalvan, and the Knight Fonseca, with
the fight which the valiant Tirante had with the big mastiff,
and the witty conceits of the damsel Placer-de-mi-vida, and the
amours and tricks of the widow Reposada, and my Lady the Empress
in love with Hippolito, her squire. I tell you truth, good master
gossip, that this for its style is the best book in the world.
Here the Knights eat and sleep and die in their beds, and make
their wills before dying, with other things that are wanting
in all other books of this sort. For all this, I say that he
who wrote it is well-deserving; for he did not commit follies
purposely which should send him to the galleys for the term of
his life—_Don Quixote of La Mancha_, translated by Henry Edward
Watts, London, 1888.

[2] _Cervantes, El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha._
Edited and annotated by Francisco Rodríguez Marín, Madrid, 1911;
vol. I, chap. vi, pp. 160-163.

The last sentence of this quotation is not clear. It has become
the subject of many comments and discussions, but no wholly
satisfactory explanation has resulted. Menéndez y Pelayo
intimates that probably the sign of negation should be omitted
from the clause “pues no hizo tantas necedades de industria.”
If this were done the passage would make good sense. In the
second volume, page 76, of his _Introducción a los Orígenes de
la Novela_ he suggests another explanation. He quotes a passage
from Juan Rufo which reads as follows: “mas a fe que en algo
errárades, y yo fuera presidente, que os avia de _echar a galeras
pues no_ podiades _hazello de ignorancia_.” He is of the opinion
that Cervantes expressed or intended to express the same idea
as that contained in the words just quoted, but that in some
way “industria” was substituted for “ignorancia.” If Cervantes
had used the latter word instead of the former, the sentence in
question would be free from obscurity. However that may be, it
is evident that the judgment of Cervantes concerning _Tirant lo
Blanch_ was expressed in a humorous way. Almost the whole of
it consists of words of praise. The only adverse criticism is
to be found in the last sentence, whereby Cervantes voices his
objections to the nonsense and obscene features of the work.

According to Menéndez y Pelayo, the whole sentence would be clear
if the clause, “pues no hizo tantas necedades de industria,” were
not one of negation. It seems to me possible and practicable to
remove the negative meaning from the clause without omitting or
changing any words that are now found in the text. The clause
may be made affirmative, emphatically affirmative, by resorting
to the rhetorical device of converting it into a negative
interrogation. The sentence may as a result appear complicated,
but orally expressed it would not seem unnatural or forced. The
passage, with this change in punctuation, would read: “Con todo
eso, os digo que merecía el que lo compuso, pues, ¿no hizo tantas
necedades de industria? que le echaran á galeras por todos los
días de su vida.”

_Tirant Lo Blanch_ was first published in Valencia, in 1490. Of this edition there are three copies extant: one in the British Museum, another in the Biblioteca Provincial in Valencia, and the third in the library of the Hispanic Society of New York.[3] Mr. Archer M. Huntington, founder of the above Society and a distinguished patron of Spanish letters, had two hundred facsimile copies made from the last one mentioned.[4] One of these was used in the investigations connected with this dissertation.

[3] For the history and description of these three copies see
D. Isidro Bonsoms y Sicart, _La Edición príncipe del “Tirant lo
Blanch” Cotejo de los tres ejemplares impresos en Valencia, en
1490, únicos conocidos hoy día_ (_Discursos leídos en la Real
Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona en la recepción pública
de D. Isidro Bonsoms y Sicart_, Barcelona, 1907). Also see Juan
Givanel Mas, _Estudio crítico de Tirant lo Blanch_, Madrid, 1912;
pp. 27-34.

[4] _Ibid._, p. 59.

A second edition was published in Barcelona, in 1497. While I was in that city in the summer of 1915, I saw fragments of a copy of this edition in the Institut d’Estudis Catalans. It is to these fragments that Givanel Mas refers in the following words: “Los únicos pliegos que se conocen hoy día de la edición barcelonesa de 1497 del Tirant lo Blanch, se hallan en la Biblioteca del Institut d’Estudis Catalans; comprenden desde el capítulo ccxviiii al ccccxciii y del ccccxxxix al ccccxlv.”[5]

[5] _Ibid._, p. 41, footnote 2.

It therefore affords me great pleasure to be able to announce that the Hispanic Society of New York has in its possession a complete copy of the edition of 1497. It is gilt edged and is bound in leather of a yellowish, almost brown, color. Its back is decorated with gilded lines and bears the title _Roman del Cavaller_ | _Tirant Blanc_ | Barcelona | 1497. The title page is missing, but at the end of the book a fragment of paper bearing the words “Tirant lo Blanch” in large letters is pasted on a flyleaf. This fragment is probably a part of the title page. The edges of several pages at the beginning and at the close of the book had been torn, but they have been neatly mended. A considerable number of pages are somewhat soiled, but all are easily legible. The facsimile reproduction of a page of the fragments in Barcelona, which Givanel Mas has inserted in his work, coincides exactly with the corresponding page of the book in the library of the Hispanic Society. This author has also set forth other interesting details concerning the edition of 1497.[6] The colophon of the edition reads:

[6] _Ibid._, pp. 38-42.

A honor y gloria d’nostre senyor deu Jeusucrist: fon principiat a stampar lo present libre per mestre Pere miquel condam y es acabat per Diego de gumiel castella en la molt noble e insigne ciutat de Barcelona a .xvi. de Setembre d’l any .M. CCCC. XCVII.[7]

[7] To the honor and glory of our Lord God, Jesus Christ: the
printing of this book was begun by Master Pere Miquel Condam and
is completed by Diego de Gumiel, a Castilian, in the most noble
and excellent city of Barcelona on the sixteenth day of September
of the year 1497.

In 1873 Don Mariano Aguiló y Fuster of Barcelona began the publication of a new edition, but it was not completed until 1905. In this edition the work is divided into four volumes.[8]

[8] For further information concerning this edition, see Juan
Givanel Mas, _op. cit._, pp. 43-58.

A Spanish translation of _Tirant lo Blanch_ was published in Valladolid, in 1511.[9] The name of the translator is not known. The eminent Catalan book-lover and scholar, Don Isidro Bonsoms y Sicart, of Barcelona, has a copy of it in his library. We have no information in regard to the existence of any other copy. An Italian translation was made by Lelio Manfredi and published in Venice, in 1538.[10] A French translation by the Comte de Caylus was published about 1737; London is given as the place of publication, but this is probably incorrect.[11]

[9] _Ibid._, pp. 61-76.

[10] _Ibid._, pp. 70-89.

[11] _Ibid._, pp. 90-104.

In the course of my studies of _Tirant lo Blanch_, I have found myself confronted by three important questions: (1) What are the real facts concerning the authorship of this book of chivalry? (2) Is it true that Tirant, the hero of the book, stands for the historic personage Roger de Flor, in connection with the Catalan-Aragonese expedition to Constantinople in the early years of the fourteenth century? (3) What are the historical data utilized by the author in the composition of his work? Each of these problems I have investigated, and the processes and results are duly set forth in their appropriate places in this work. Three distinct parts of it will be devoted to a consideration of these three questions. They will be preceded by an analysis of _Tirant lo Blanch_, to which the reader will be referred whenever it may be deemed expedient or necessary. The analysis is, moreover, intended to throw light on all the points mentioned in the quotation from _Don Quijote_; to give a fuller account of the activities of Tirant than has been done up to the present time; and to give as accurate an idea of the book as a reasonable allotment of space will permit.