The Two Versions of the "Libro de buen amor": The Extent and Nature of the Author's Revision

Abstract

The theory that Juan Ruiz himself produced two separate versions of the Libro de buen amor, first suggested by Baist, has been generally accepted since Menendez Pidal, in his review of Ducamin's edition, marshalled fully the arguments in its favour. Of later critics, only Spitzer, to my knowledge, has shown any disinclination to accept it, Yet, although Ducamin's edition furnishes all the data, no attempt has so far been made to establish precisely the extent and nature of the Archpriest's revision, or to consider its bearing upon our interpretation of his general aims. Menendez Pidal, and after him Lecoy, were merely concerned to show on which of the manuscripts any future critical edition should be based. My aim in this article is to work out from Ducamin's transcriptions, checked against photographs of the manuscripts, the differences between the two versions, and then to speculate upon the author's reasons for his revisions.