Elocuencia española en arte por Bartolomé Jiménez Patón (review)

BDREVIEWSC'.J 95 Jimenez Pat6n, Bartolome. Elocuencia espanola en arte. Ed. Francisco J. Martin. Barcelona: Puvill, 1994.487 pp. ISBN 84-85202-65-l. Jimenez Paton's Elocuencia espanola enarte was first republished in 1980by Elena Casas in Laret6ricaen Espana (Madrid: Editora Nacional). This edition presented only the bare text, without annotations of any kind, with an insubstantial introductory study. For this reason a second edition of the work was needed; it was provided by Gianna Carla Marras in 1987 (BartolomeJimenez Paton, Elocuencia espanola enarte.Madrid: ElCrotalon). In her introduction to the book Marras announced that she would collate the editions of 1604 and 1621 in a future project (p. 12, note 6), but this work has so far not appeared. Francisco Martin, perhaps attempting to "supply the missing piece" necessary for an adequate evaluation ofPaton's rhetoric, here publishes both texts. Francisco Martin divides his work into two parts. The first is an introductory study followed by the texts of the 1604and 1621editions. An index of authors and rhetorical terms found in the texts and a bibliographical list constitute the second part. The introductory study deals with the author's life and personality and discusses his work within the general framework of the rhetorical theory of the time. The first part, as Francisco Martin asserts, consists largely of a summary of the works by Quills y Rozas, found in the latter's Bartolome Jimenez Paton, Epftomedelaortografta latina y castellana; and Institucionesdelagramaticaespafiola(Madrid: CSIC, 1965). The second is mainly a summary of the work by Luisa Lopez Grijera, published in her article "Introduction to the Study of Rhetoric in Sixteenth Century Spain," Dispositio 8 (1983): 1-18); and now also in Grijera's La ret6rica enlaEspanadelSig(odeOro (Salamanca: Universidad, 1994). As for Martin's edition of the texts themselves, it should be noted that a copious number of helpful annotations accompany the text in footnotes. The first issue to be considered is that of the importance of the role of Paton's work in the history of Spanish rhetoric. Francisco Martin first praises Jimenez Paton as a highly significant rhetorician, "uno de los preceptistas mas dignos de atencion de nuestro Siglo de Oro" (p. 9),which is a commonplace in a prooemion of this kind. Later he makes a more equitable judgment when he refers to both editions as a handbook designed for use in class by students: "Paton ... no tenia otra intencion que la de proporcionar un manual, en castellano, para utilizarlo en clase" (45); and also "se trata, obviamente, de un manual de retorica para estudiantes" (52); he states, as well, "despreocupado de la evidente falta de originalidad, parece que su objetivo no es otro que poner a disposicion del estudiante de retorica cuanta informacion pertinente pueda colectar sobre la materia" (53). 96 ro REvIEws 03 Paton's Elocuenciais the fourth treatise on rhetoric written in Spanish , and probably the first of a new era in which the vernacular slowly makes gradual inroads into the territory long held by Latin. Some of the poems found in the preliminary pages compare Paton with Cicero, praising the book for what it does to elevate the Spanish language. The author himself devotes considerable time to making it clear that Spanish has reached the peak of worthiness and that therefore the time has come for it to replace Latin. Within a historical context, Spanish is being taught and learned all over the world, and the Elocuenciaclaims its place of importance within the complex machinery of the empire. Probably the most significant aspect of Paton's book is his criticism in the shape of the normative influence he tries to impose when using examples from the vernacularvirtually a virgin field at the time Paton writes his rhetoric. From a theoretical point of view, though, the contribution of Paton's Elocuenciato the development of the history of rhetoric is of little interest. Secondly, as a scholar I feel that the missing piece is yet to be found. From an editorial point of view, it would have been more helpful to present one critical text with all of the variants and annotations in notes, rather than to include both texts. This kind of presentation would...