Calderón, Copyists, and the Problem of Endings

In the study of Spanish epic poetry and romances, we know that variants frequently occur at the end of the poem. When attempting to establish a definitive text of a Calderonian play, editors face a similar pattern of ending variation, as alterations of the texts appear with notable frequency in the final pages of the play as a whole, or of the individual acts therein. The changes fall into three major groups: 1) errors on the part of the copyist and/or printer, such as the two-step process which caused the loss of a substantial ending portion of La fiera, el rayo y la piedra; 2) alteration of the play for different sorts of productions, as occurred with the excision of a spectacular finale from Fortunas de Andrómeda y Perseo; and 3) rewriting of the text by Calderón and/or an autor de comedias, of which we find evidence in the majority of autograph or partially autograph manuscripts in the Biblioteca Nacional. The frequency with which he rewrote endings demonstrates that Calderón paid special heed to their construction; the complex pattern of ending variations that has resulted demands a corresponding attention on the part of his modern editors. (MRG)