[74] “Desengaño de Celos, compuesto por Bartholomé Lopez de Enciso, Natural de Tendilla,” Madrid, 1586, 12mo, 321 leaves. There is, I believe, absolutely nothing known of the author, except what he tells us of himself in this romance;--an extremely rare book, of which I possess the copy that belonged to Cerdá y Rico, and which Pellicer borrowed of him to make the needful note on Enciso for his edition of Don Quixote, Parte I. c. 6. Another pastoral romance in six books, entitled “The Nymphs of the Henares,” by Bernardo Gonzalez de Bovadilla, was printed in 1587. The author, who was a native of the Canary Islands, confesses that he has placed the scene of his story on the banks of the Henares without having ever seen them; but both he and his romance have long since been forgotten. So has “The Shepherds of Iberia,” in four books, by Bernardo de la Vega, supposed to have been a native of Madrid, and certainly a canon of Tucuman, in Peru, whose ill-written story appeared in 1591. But that these, and all that preceded them, enjoyed for a time the public favor is made plain by the fact, that they are all found in the library of Don Quixote, and that three of them receive high praise from Cervantes;--much higher than has been confirmed by the decision of subsequent generations.[75] [75] Don Quixote, ed. Pellicer, Parte I. Tom. I. p. 67, and ed. Clemencin, Tom. I. p. 144. Some time, however, elapsed before another came to continue the series, except the “Arcadia” of Lope de Vega, which, though written long before, was not printed till 1598.[76] At last, “The Age of Gold,” by Bernardo de Balbuena, appeared. Its author, born on the vine-clad declivities of the Val de Peñas, in 1568, early accompanied his family to Mexico, where he was educated, and where, when only seventeen years old, he was already known as a poet. Once, at least, he visited his native country, and perhaps oftener; but he seems to have spent most of his life, either in Jamaica, where he enjoyed an ecclesiastical benefice, or in Puerto Rico, of which he was afterwards bishop, and where he died in 1627. [76] _Ante_, Vol. II. p. 125. Perhaps the “Enamorada Elisea” of Gerónimo de Covarrubias Herrera, printed in 1594, 8vo, should also be excepted; but I know this work only from the title of it in Antonio.