Calderon's La gran Cenobia: Source Play for La vida es sueno?

5 Discussion of the various birthdates attributed can be summarized briefly. Despite the fact that Ramón Mesonero Romanos ("El Doctor Mira de Amescua," in his edition of Dramáticos contemporáneos de Lope de Vega, II, in Biblioteca de autores españoles, XLV, Madrid, 1951, p. vii — this introduction is identical to his article, "El teatro de Mirademescua ," El Semanario Pintoresco Español, 1852, 82) gives a date of ca. 1570, and Cayetano Alberto de la Barrera y Letrado (Catálogo bibliográfico y biográfico del teatro antiguo español, desde sus orígenes hasta mediados del siglo XVIII, Madrid, 1860, p. 255) one of ca. 1578, it seems probable that Mira was born sometime between 1574 and 1577 according to witnesses during the prueba of 1631 (Sanz, 559). A date of 1574 or 1575 would be more likely, however, since his appointment to municipal office in 1600 would necessitate Mira's being of legal age (twentyfive ), as noted by Cotarelo, p. 10. * Rafael Carrasco, Lope de Vega y Mira de Amescua (Guadix, 1935), p. 9. 7 Francisco Rodriguez Marin, Pedro Espinosa . Estudio biográfico, bibliográfico y crítico (Madrid, 1931), p. 93 (henceforth referred to as Espinosa). Cotarelo, p. 12, gives the year as 1603, as also Carrasco, p. 10. 8 Cited by Angel Valbuena Prat, ed., Mira de Amescua: Teatro, in Clásicos castellanos, LXX (Madrid, 1960; a reprinting of the 1926 edition), pp. xxvi and xxxviii. 9 Francisco Rodríguez Marín, "Nuevos datos biográficos: Antonio Mira de Amescua, Bolet ín de la Real Academia Española, V (1918; henceforth referred to as "Nuevos datos," 321322 ; quoting from the Archivo de Protocolos de Guadix, oficio de Alonso Vela de Rosa, 1600. Note that although Rodríguez Marín heads the letter with the date of May 8, 1600, the last line of it dates the signature as May 8, 1601. The source indication does not help to clarify matters as it refers to the "cuadernos del dicho año." In any event, the letter is quoted in its entirety by Rodríguez Marin proceeding that of Fernando del Pulgar. I favor the 1600 dating since among the terms identifying Mira ("clérigo, presuitero, vezino desta ciudad") presumably would be found "alcalde mayor" were such, indeed, the truth. For this, and other reasons, I conjecture that Mira was the bishop's representative prior to becoming a political officer in Guadix. 10The book was finished by August 25, 1602, so the poem by Mira may well date from that time (Cotarelo, p. 14). 11The date of publication on the title page is given as 1610, but the tasa, erratas, privilegio , and aprobaciones are dated, in the main, 1609 (according to Cotarelo, p. 17). 12According to Alfonso Pardo Manuel de Villena, Marqués de Rafal, El Conde de Lemos (Madrid, 1911), p. 167. 13As discovered and reported by Otis H. Green, "Mira de Amescua in Italy," Modem Language Notes, 45 (1930), 318-19. 14According to Claude E. Aníbal, Mira de Amescua: I. El arpa de David: IL Lisardo — His Pseudonym, The Ohio State University Studies, II, no. 7 (Columbus, Ohio, 1925), p. 8. 15Diaz de Escovar (125) gives the date as August 2, 1615. Rodríguez Marín (Espinosa , p. 93) and Cotarelo (p. 22) agree on the date of July 2, 1619. The work was published in Madrid (Diego Flamenco), 1619. 16See the introductory study for each of her editions published in Mexico: Comedia Famosa de Ruy López de Avalos (Primera Parte de don Alvaro de Luna) Próspera Fortuna de don Alvaro de Luna y Adversa de Ruy López de Avalos, 1965, pp. 15, 28, 32; and La Segunda de don Alvaro (Adversa Fortuna de don Alvaro de Luna), 1960, pp. 6, 8. 17On p. 38 Cotarelo refers to this as "autógrafo ," but on p. 72 as a "copia." The MS is not an "autògrafo." '8As discussed in Francis William Forbes, "A Critical Edition of Antonio Mira de Amescua's Galán, Valiente y Discreto," Diss. University of Arizona 1971, p. 29. CALDERON'S LA GRAN CENOBIA: SOURCE PLAY FOR LA VIDA ES SUENO? Eleanor Jean Martin, Rutgers University...