Transcriber's Notes: Obvious punctuation errors and misprints have been corrected. Text in italics is indicated between _underscores_ whereas superscripted text is indicated with a single caret (^). Small capitals have been replaced by regular uppercase text. Blank pages present in the printed original have been deleted in the e-text version. * * * * * _Short Histories of the Literatures of the World_ _Edited by Edmund Gosse_ A HISTORY OF SPANISH LITERATURE BY JAMES FITZMAURICE-KELLY C. DE LA REAL ACADEMIA ESPAÑOLA [Illustration] NEW YORK AND LONDON D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1921 COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. Printed in the United States of America PREFACE Spanish literature, in its broadest sense, might include writings in every tongue existing within the Spanish dominions; it might, at all events, include the four chief languages of Spain. Asturian and Galician both possess literatures which in their recent developments are artificial. Basque, the spoiled child of philologers, has not added greatly to the sum of the world's delight; and even if it had, I should be incapable of undertaking a task which would belong of right to experts like Mr. Wentworth Webster, M. Jules Vinson, and Professor Schuchardt. Catalan is so singularly rich and varied that it might well deserve separate treatment: its inclusion here would be as unjustifiable as the inclusion of Provençal in a work dealing with French literature. For the purposes of this book, minor varieties are neglected, and Spanish literature is taken as referring solely to Castilian—the speech of Juan Ruiz, Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, Quevedo, and Calderón.