It is true that the first editions of certain very popular Spanish books--such as the _Celestina_,[11] _Amadís de Gaula_,[12] _Lazarillo de Tormes_,[13] _Guzmán de Alfarache_,[14] and _Don Quixote_[15]--tend to become exceedingly rare and are, perhaps, occasionally thumbed out of existence altogether. But the _Galatea_, like all pastoral novels, appealed to a comparatively restricted class of readers, and was in no danger of wide popularity. No doubt the _princeps_ of the _Galatea_ is exceptionally rare,[16]--rarer than the _princeps_ of _Don Quixote_; but rarity, taken by itself, is no proof that a work was popular, and, in the present instance, the rarity may be due to the fact that the _Galatea_ was issued in a more or less limited edition. This is what we should expect in the case of a first book published in a provincial town by an author who had still to make his reputation; but, in the absence of direct testimony, the question cannot be decided. What can be proved by any one at all acquainted with Spanish bibliography is that there was no unexampled delay in publishing the _Galatea_. Similar instances abound; but, for our present purpose, it will suffice to mention two which are--or should be--familiar to all who are specially interested in Cervantes and in his writings. As we have just seen, the _Tasa_ of the _Galatea_ is dated thirteen months after the _Aprobación_. An exact parallel to this is afforded by Cervantes's own _Novelas exemplares_: Fray Juan Bautista signed the _Aprobación_ on July 9, 1612, and Hernando de Vallejo signed the _Tasa_ on August 12, 1613.[17] Here the interval is precisely thirteen months. A still more striking instance of dilatoriness is revealed in the preliminaries to another work which has been consulted--or, at least, quoted as though it were familiar to them--by almost all writers on Cervantes from 1761 onwards: namely, Diego de Haedo's _Topographia e Historia general de Argel_, published at Valladolid in 1612. Haedo obtained the _Aprobación_ on October 6, 1604, but the licence was not given till February 8, 1610. In this instance, then, the legal formalities were spread out over five years and, at the final stage, there was a further pause of three years; in all, a delay of eight years.[18] There is no ground for assuming that the official procedure in these matters was more expeditions in 1585 than it was a quarter of a century later and, consequently, in the case of the _Galatea_, the interval of time between the issue of the _Aprobación_ and the despatch of the _Tasa_ cannot be regarded as calling for any far-fetched explanation.