[27] _Autos Sacramentales_ in _Biblioteca de Ribadeneyra_. The introduction by Don Eduardo Gonzalez Pedroso gives the early history of these religious plays in Spain, but with scarcely sufficient recognition of the fact that they were common to all western Europe. [28] An accessible and still most useful account of the early Spanish drama is to be found in the first volume of Ochoa’s _Tesoro del Teatro Español_, which gives the introduction and catalogue of Don Leandro de Moratin, Paris, 1836; but the standard authority is Schack’s _Geschichte der Dramatischen Literatur und Kunst in Spanien_, Berlin, 1845-46. Yet, here and always, the English reader cannot do better than follow Mr Ticknor. [29] Published by the Sociedad de Bibliófilos Españoles, 1870. [30] _Biblioteca de Ribadeneyra_, vols. xxiv., xxxiv., xli., lii., give the best modern texts of 120 of Lope de Vega’s comedies, including, not very properly, the _Dorotea_; but the Spanish Academy has begun a portentous edition, in quarto, of his whole work. The first volume contains a life by Don C. A. de la Barrera, founded largely on the poet’s numerous extant letters. The _Obras Sueltas_--_i.e._, non-dramatic works of Lope--are to be found in a desirable form published at Madrid from the excellent press of Francisco de Sancha in 21 vols., 1776-79. [31] All the writers mentioned in this paragraph will be found under their names in the _Biblioteca de Ribadeneyra_. [32] Whoever wishes to gain an original knowledge of the dramatists of this time may be referred to vols. xliii. and xlv. of the _Biblioteca de Ribadeneyra_, with their introductions and catalogues by Don Ramon Mesonero Romanos. [33] Not the best but the most accessible edition of Calderon’s plays is that of J. J. Keil, Leipzig, 1827. Don Eugenio Hartzenbusch has edited him for the _Biblioteca de Ribadeneyra_, vols. vii., ix., xii., xiv., and lviii. [34] For an example see the _Spanish Drama_ by Mr G. H. Lewes, 1846, a shrewd piece of criticism by one who was a good judge of a play. But Mr Lewes was too manifestly excited to revenge his own once excessive confidence in Schlegel on Calderon. Don M. Menendez’s _Calderon y su escuela_, a series of lectures delivered in 1881, is a very sound piece of criticism. CHAPTER IV. FORMS OF THE SPANISH DRAMA. THE PREVAILING QUALITY OF THE SPANISH DRAMA--TYPICAL EXAMPLES--‘LA DAMA MELINDROSA’--‘EL TEJEDOR DE SEGOVIA’--‘EL CONDENADO POR DESCONFIADO’--THE PLAYS ON “HONOUR”--‘A SECRETO AGRAVIO SECRETA VENGANZA’--THE “AUTO SACRAMENTAL”--THE “LOA”--THE ‘VERDADERO DIOS PAN’--‘LOS DOS HABLADORES.’ [SN: _The prevailing quality of the Spanish drama._]