The White Knight: Tirant Lo Blanc Read online

  NOTES

  (1) Primavera de la literatura europea (Madrid: EdicionesGuadarrama, 1961). p. 237.

  (2) Don Quixote. Tr. Walter Starkie. (London: Macmillan, 1957),pp. 89-90.

  (3) Tirant lo Blanc: A Study of Its Authorship, Principal Sourcesand Historical Setting (N.Y.: AMC, 1966), pp. 159-60.

  (4) David H. Rosenthal (N.Y.: Shocken, 1984). Ray La Fontaine(New York: Peter Lange, 1993). Although Rosenthal's translationappeared in print first, the fact is that La Fontaine's morecomplete translation preceded it, lying in hibernation, much asmy own manuscript, since 1974.

  (5) Madrid: Alianza, 1969. Tr. by J. F. Vidal Jove.Introduction by Mario Vargas Llosa. Also, further editions ofthe 1511 translation by Martin de Riquer (1947-49; 1974) and byF. Buendia (1954).

  (6) Henry Thomas, Spanish and Portuguese Romances of Chivalry(Cambridge: University Press, 1920), pp. 32-33. It should alsobe noted that El cavallero Cifar, although not in print until1512, was probably composed at the beginning of the 14th century.Amadis de Gaula, the model for so many imitations, and notprinted until 1508, was in manuscript form in the 14th century.

  (7) p. 277

  (8) See the English translation by William Caxton: The Book ofthe Ordre of Chyualry. Westminster: William Caxton, 1484? Andreprinted several times. For these and other medievaltranslations from the Spanish, the reader may wish to consult mybibliography: The Literature of Spain in English Translation. NewYork: Ungar, 1975.

  (9) See the English translation by Lady Goodenough: The Chronicleof Muntaner. London: Hakluyt Society, 1920-21.

  (10) After his initial words of praise ("a treasure of delight, amine of entertainment,... the best book in the world"), Cervantesadds this puzzling phrase: "the author deserves to be praised,for he did not deliberately commit all these follies, which hadthey been intentional would send him to the galleys for the restof his life." [Starkie's trans., p. 90] Here, he is apparentlycondemning the book, although, in the next breath, the curaterecommends the book to the barber: "Take him home and readhim..." And in a later chapter Cervantes speaks of "the neverenough to be praised Tirante the White." So what are we to makeof this apparently condemnatory phrase about the "galleys"?Scholarship has provided some ingenious theories to negate thecondemnation, to wit: it is not a statement, but a question; thegalleys are less a punishment than a death sentence would be; itis not Cervantes' opinion, but the curate's; the word galleysactually refers to "galley-proofs" and mean that the work shouldremain in print forever, etc. (See, for example, Patricia J.Boehne, The Renaissance Catalan Novel [Boston: Twayne, 1989],Antonio Torres Alcala, El realismo del Tirant lo Blanch y suinfluencia en el Quijote [Barcelona: Puvill, 1979?], and thestudies by Martin de Riquer.) Very interesting theories, but weare no more certain of the meaning behind Cervantes' words thanwhen we first read them: they remain a puzzle. However, thenovel Tirant lo Blanc also speaks to us: Do we feel that thenovel is utter nonsense and badly written, or is it moving, attimes exciting, often humorous? In short, is it good literature?Through our own eyes we can make a judgement about the meaning ofthose apparently incongruous words of Cervantes.

  (11) Footnote: pp. 203-204.

  (12) p. 90.