Comedias Parte XV by Lope de Vega (review)

THIS IS PROLOPE’S FIFTEENTH VOLUME OF LOPE’S PLAYS. With the exception of the unauthorized Partes III (three authentic plays) and V (one play), all contain a dozen comedias, bringing the total edited by the team so far to 148. As such, the project has made great progress, but there is still a long way to go. The editors of the plays in this parte are José Javier Rodríguez (La malcasada), María del Pilar Chouza-Calo (Querer la propia desdicha), Enrico di Pastena (La vengadora de las mujeres), Marcella Trambaioli (El Caballero del Sacramento), Juan Udaondo Alegre (La Santa Liga), Raúl Orellana (El favor agradecido), José Aragüés Aldaz (La hermosa Ester), Aurora González Aldán (El leal criado), Sònia Boadas (La buena guarda), Macarena Cuiñas Gómez (Historia de Tobías), José Enrique Laplana Gil (El ingrato arrepentido), Santiago Restrepo, and Ramón Valdés (El caballero del milagro).

The volume’s coordinator, Luis Sánchez Laílla, provides the “Historia Editorial” of the Decimaquinta parte (1: 1–72). In the autumn of 1620 Lope had no fewer than three volumes of plays ready for printing: his Partes XV, XVI, and XVII. Vicente Espinel approved the first on 24 September 1620, and Lope was granted a privilege for the volume a month later. Since the Licentiate Murcia de la Llana dated the Fe de erratas on 15 December, we might seem obliged to conclude that the printing house run by Fernando Correa de Montenegro contrived to print the volume in only seven weeks (24 October–15 December). This is not impossible, but as Professor Sánchez Laílla points out, it was not unknown for printers to anticipate the issue of licenses and start work before they were granted (1: 7 n32). In fact, Lope’s “publisher,” Alonso Pérez, had also entrusted Correa with Parte XVII at the same time; again, this was not an impossible task, but Correa must have had the equipment and workers to operate two presses, perhaps three. Pérez’s usual printer, the widow of Alonso Martín, printed La Filomena in the summer of 1621, and it must have gone on sale soon after 19 July, the date of its tassa. The widow then moved on to print Parte XVI (not on sale until January 1622) and a second edition of Parte XV (not on sale until January 1622; see the provisional list of partes published in 1621–22, [1: 16]). If Lope was visiting the printing houses to read his proofs, he must have been kept busy; however, if the entire run of the first edition of Parte XV had indeed sold out in under a year, it was worth his while.

Professor Sánchez Laílla conducts a thorough examination of woodblocks (1: 21, 27) and metal ornaments (1: 18–20, 22–23), raising the question of the lending of typographical material by one printer to another (1: 18). This is not an insignificant question, since it is clear that Madrid printers at this time were under pressure to meet the demands of the “book merchants” (especially those who were acting for Lope), and therefore helped each other out by sharing work. One woodblock that was used by more than one printer was a Lope trademark, the centaur armed with bow and arrow (1: 21, imagen 8): this was used on the title pages of Parte XV, 1621 A (Fernando Correa de Montenegro for Alonso Pérez); Parte XV, 1621 B (widow of Alonso Martín for Alonso Pérez); Parte XVI, 1621 (widow of Alonso Martín for Alonso Pérez); and Parte XVII, 1622 (widow of Fernando Correa for Miguel de Siles). This same woodblock had also been used in the Arcadia of 1620 (Fernando Correa for Alonso Pérez). The real owner of this block, whoever he/she was, was willing to...