The earliest Spanish novels are “Lazarillo de Tonnes,” by Hurtado de Mendoza, and the “Diana Enamorada,” by Monte Mayor. They are followed by “El Picaro Guzman de Alfarache” and “El Escudero Marcos de Obregon,” by Aleman and Espinel. A great number of novels were written in the following century, but were all eclipsed by Cervantes’ “Don Quixote,” which is too well known to need any comment. Several authors in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries cultivated different literary styles. Quevedo is the most remarkable of them. He was the quaintest and most original of humorists. He wrote a number of works of real merit, none of which has been so popular as his “Satiras” in prose and verse. Political and moralist writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are very numerous. Of these Guevara, Sta. Teresa, Fray Luis de Granada, Gracian, Saavedra Fajardo, Mariana, Morales, Zurita, and Solis are the most remarkable. The end of the seventeenth century was the worst period of Spanish literature. Philip V., the first king of the House of Bourbon, 1700, did his utmost to improve the intellectual culture of the country. The Biblioteca Real was founded in 1711, and the Academias de la Lengua, Historia, and Bellas Artes in 1714; several literary reviews also appeared. The best poets of this period are Antonio de Toledo and Gerardo Lobo. The only productions, however, of any literary merit are the critical works of Flores, Masdeu, Mayans and others. During the reign of Charles III., 1759-1788, Melendez wrote some tolerable verses. He is followed by Fr. Diego Gonzalez, Cienfuegos, Nicolas de Moratin and others. The most original writers of the end of the eighteenth century are, however, undoubtedly Leandro Moratin and Ramon. The two comedies, “El Si de las ninas” and “El Cafe,” by the former, are charming, and the “Sainetes,” by De la Cruz, in the manner of Plautus, continue to be very popular in Spain.