6 - A NOTE ON PUBLICATION

Abstract

This chapter describes the situation of Spanish theater in early 17th century when the drama was thought of solely as popular entertainment. In 1604, Lope prefaced his novel El peregrino en su patria with a list of the titles of his plays up to that date, and a greatly extended list accompanied the second edition of the same work in 1618; both lists are invaluable in establishing the terminus ad quern and also the authorship of each of the plays they include. A much more substantial task was the collection and publication of their works, which first Lope and then Tirso undertook. Lope or his close associates supervised the issue of no fewer than 20 volumes, or partes, in the years 1604–35, of which Tirso brought out 5. The playwrights naturally suffered from the same handicap as the booksellers in so far as the original texts were usually long since lost. The student of the Spanish comedia is in no better case than the modern reader of Shakespeare, or than any scholar who attempts to bring literary criticism to bear on what, at the time of its production, was considered mere ephemeral entertainment. It is probably in connection with the plays of Tirso de Molina that the problems he faces are the most tantalizing.