Das spanische Drama im Goldenen Zeitalter. Ein bibliographisches Handbuch / El teatro español en los Siglos de Oro. Inventario de Bibliografías (review)

REVIEWS Reichenberger, Kurt and Roswitha. Das spanische Drama im Goldenen Zeitalter. Ein bibliographisches Handbuch /El teatro español en los Siglos de Oro. Inventario de Bibliografías. Teatro del Siglo de Oro: Bibliografías y catálogos 2. Kassell: Edition Reichenberger, 1989. 319 pp. DM 180. The work of the Reichenbergers in encouraging Golden Age theatre bibliography is well evidenced in the number of items in the series "Bibliografías y catálogos" already published by their press. Now they have produced what is easily one of the most useful books to students of the Spanish Golden Age theatre; and one which should be found in any scholarly library. Although, admittedly, the Reichenbergers deal only with theatre, in terms of breadth of coverage, painstaking scholarship, and attention to detail this book is a worthy complement to McCready's 1966 Bibliografía temática, and comparable to the Sen's and Simón Díaz general bibliographies. The Reichenbergers' is a bibliography of bibliographies (and works of bibliographical pertinence) dealing with Spanish theatre of the Golden Age. It is divided into seven sections, plus indexes. Each section begins with general bibliographies on the section topic. Additionally, the first section, "Generalidades," includes bibliographies of Spanish literature, journals, journals with bibliographical sections, dissertations, homenajes, scholarly investigation (by country) and translations (by language) The second section, "El teatro de los Siglos de Oro," deals specifically with bibliographies of Spanish theatre, research, and translations. The third section, "Bibliografías de orientación temática," covers emblem/iconography, motifAheme problematics , specialized topic (e.g., Don Juan) and theatre-related (e.g., Academias, versification) bibliographies. The fourth section, "Los dramaturgos y sus obras dramáticas," lists bibliographies of theatre origins, the Valencians, Lope's generation, Lope, Calderón's generation, Calderón, and Calderón's school. The fifth section, "El escenario y las representaciones," cites specialized bibliographies of autores y comediantes, 289 290BCom, Vol. 43, No. 2 (Winter 1991) and regional theatre. The sixth section, "La impresión de obras dramáticas," deals with printers (by place) partes (Diferentes, Escogidas, and others), sueltas, relaciones, and minor theatre. The seventh section, "Catálogos," lists those of play titles, and libraries (by country). The indexes are, respectively, thematic, of modern authors, and of libraries. At the end of the volume are addenda entries referenced to the appropriate section. The volume contains 1482 entries. Each separate item entry gives a full bibliographical citation, and is followed by a brief description and/or summation (in German) of its contents. Where applicable, published reviews of the particular work are also identified. I noticed relatively few typographical errors : in the table of contents (both the German and Spanish) is lor Reyes Magos; section 4.2 begins on p61 not p62; item 425 has "Literartura"; plus those mentioned below. It should be noted, however, that the overall quantity of items is misleading, as a particular bibliography may be cited in several pertinent subsections. Thus, for example, McCready's thematic bibliography is described initially in full as item 150, and in part as items 205 and 257 (the modern author index has 251 in error). These, at least, are the item references to McCready's work to be found in the modern author index. Not in the index , however, are the citations of McCready's same work as items 219, 248, 264, 278, 283, 292, 300, 306, 311, 318, 327, 342, 348, 368, 390, 395, 404, 407, 411, 414, 423, 427, 433, 438, 444, 450, 457, 467, 474, 482, 484, 494, 498, 502, 522, 529, 532, 563, 678, 684, 689, 696, 701, 711, 717, 722, 732, 738, 743, 747, 778, (850, item number omitted), 857, 864, 875, 879, 889, 893, and 897. In short, 62 separate item numbers for one book, or four percent of the listings. A similar situation exists for La Barrera's Catálogo, and the BCom and Simón Díaz' bibliography references—so the number of discrete items in this inventory is actually somewhat less than the 1482 one might suppose. As another example of indexing difficulties, Vera Williamsen's Minor Dramatists (Twayne, 1982) is indexed as item 419, but not also as items 670 and 846, where the...