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Some Calderonian «pliegos sueltos»

Edward Meryon Wilson


University of Cambridge



When Agustín Durán compiled his still useful catalogue of «Pliegos sueltos impresos desde el siglo XVIII en adelante, que contienen las relaciones en romances que se hacían ex-profeso para ser representadas en las tertulias»1, he deliberately excluded from it excerpts from seventeenth-century plays. No one appears to have paid much attention to this subject until Professor Joseph E. Gillet wrote an interesting study of a collection of pliegos sueltos from the Biblioteca Nacional2. In this article he points out that these dramatic extracts were very popular, and that other investigators might well pay some attention to them. As far as I am aware, there has been no response to this appeal.

Joseph Blanco White recorded some details about the tertulias at which such recitals were given. He tells us that at Christmas in Andalusia, party amusements consisted of singing, dancing, and not unfrequently, speeches, taken from old Spanish plays, and known by the name of Relaciones. Recitation was considered till lately as an accomplishment both in males and females; and persons who were known to be skilled in that art, stood up at the request of the company to deliver a speech with all the gesticulations of our old school of acting3. The popularity of these recitations is attested by the number of surviving chap-books of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries which consist entirely of single speeches from seventeenth-century plays by Pérez de Montalván, Moreto, Rojas, Diamante, Calderón and a host of minor dramatists whose names are now forgotten.

It would be an exhausting task to list all the chap-book relaciones that derive from the works of any single golden-age dramatist. Below I have attempted to describe the editions of single speeches from authentic plays by Calderón which I have seen in English libraries. No doubt the list would be very much larger if the search were continued in Spanish and continental libraries also. Possibly, even in the libraries I have examined, there are more items to be found. I have grouped the items under the general headings of the plays from which they were taken. All, unless otherwise stated, are two-leaf quartos, consisting of a half sheet once folded. The title occupies the upper half of the first page, and the text begins in double columns under it. After the title of the play from which the extract is taken, I have given the name of the character who makes the speech, the act in which it occurs and a reference to Keil's edition of the comedias or to Apontes's edition of the autos sacramentales. Then, under numbers, follow the titles of the chap-books, and, where possible, the names of the printers and the place and date of publication. For undated items I have sometimes suggested a date from evidence supplied by the British Museum catalogue or from standard works of Spanish bibliography4. I have used the following abbreviations: B. M. (British Museum) E. M. W. (my own collection), U. L. C. (University Library, Cambridge), n. i. (no imprint) and n. d. (no date).

  • COMEDIAS

  • La banda y la flor. Enrique, act I; Keil, I, pp. 293-5. Escúcheme vuestra alteza...
    • 1. B. M.: T. 1953. (58). [Ornament] / RELACION / LA VANDA, / Y LA FLOR. / DE DON PEDRO CALDERON. / n. i., n. d. [?Valencia, ?1758.]
    • 2. B. M.: 1072. g. 27. (59); 12330.l. 1. 60; U. L. C.: Syn. 6. 77. 9. Another edition of no. 1 n. i., n. d. [?Madrid, ?1820].
    • 3. E. M. W.: RELACION: / LA VANDA, / Y LA FLOR, /DE DAMA. / DE DON PEDRO CALDERON. / Imprint: Manuel Nicolás Vázquez, Seville, n. d. [?1766-1800]. Begins with second line: De aquel venturoso dia...
  • La devoción de la Cruz. Lisardo and Eusebio, I; Keil I, pp. 98-9. Pues yo soy Lisardo, en Sena...
    • 4. E. M. W.: [Ornaments - block of the Cross - ornaments] / RELACION, / LA CRVZ / EN LA SEPVLTVRA. / DE DON PEDRO CALDERON DE LA BARCA. / Imprint: Francisco de Leefdael, Seville, n. d. [?1701-33].
  • La hija del aire, segunda parte. Lidoro, I; Keil II, pp. 88-90. Ya te acuerdas, Reina invicta...
    • 5. E. M. W.: [Ornaments] / RELACION / DE LA HIJA / DEL AYRE. / PRIMERA PARTE. / DE D. PEDRO CALDERON DE LA BARCA. / [Ornaments] / Imprint: Francisco de Leefdael, Seville, n. d. [?1701-33].
  • El mayor monstruo los celos. Tetrarca, II; Keil I, pp. 437-9. Si todas cuantas desdichas...
    • 6. B. M.: T. 1953. (45) + / RELACION / EL MAYOR MONSTRUO / LOS ZELOS,/ Y TETRARCA / DE JERUSALEM. / DE DON PEDRO CALDERON DE LA BARCA. / PRIMERA PARTE. / Tetrarca. / Imprint: Agustín Laborda, Valencia, n. d. [?1758].
    • 7. B. M.: 11450. h. 6. (8) Num 163. / RELACION / DE HOMBRE. / EL MAYOR MONSTRUO / LOS ZELOS. / DE DON PEDRO CALDERON. / Imprint: Rafael García Rodríguez, Cordoba, n. d. [?1810].
  • El mayor monstruo los celos. Mariene, III. Keil I, pp. 446-7. Bien pensarás, lo cobarde...
    • 8. B. M.: T. 1953. (45) Second part of no. 6. Dated 1758.
  • No hay burlas con el amor. Don Juan, I; Keil III, pp. 98-9. Ya, don Alonso, sabéis...
    • 9. B. M.: T. 1953. (35) [Ornament] / RELACION: / NO HAY BURLAS / CON EL AMOR. / DE DON PEDRO CALDERON DE LA BARCA. / Imprint: Augstín Laborda, Valencia, 1758.
    • 10. B. M.: 12330. l. 1. (91); U. L. C.: Hisp. 7. 81. 1. (58) RELACION / NO AY BURLAS / CON EL AMOR. / DE DON PEDRO CALDERON. / Imprint: Colegio de Nuestra Señora de la Assumpción, Cordoba, n. d. [?1730-67].
  • El Purgatorio de San Patricio. Ludovico, I. Keil I, pp. 53-5. Hermosísima deidad...
    • 11. B. M.: T. 1953. (3) LA CUEVA / DE SAN PATRICIO. / [3 blocks: a kneeling figure, a king, a gallant.] / PRIMERA PARTE. / n. i., n. d. [?Madrid, ?1764].
    • 12. E. M. W.: [Ornaments] / RELACION / EL PURGATORIO / DE / SAN PATRICIO. / Imprint: Luis de Ramos y Coria, Cordoba, n. d. [?1790-1823].
    • 13. B. M.: 11450. f. 28. (38) Num. 254. / RELACION / EL PURGATORIO / DE / SAN / PATRICIO./ Imprint: Luis de Ramos y Coria, Cordoba, n. d. [?1790-1823].
    • 14. U. L. C.: Syn. 6. 77. 7. Another edition of no. 13, with different colophon.
  • El Purgatorio de San Patricio. Ludovico, III; Keil I, pp. 71-3. Después de las prevenciones...
    • 15. B. M.: T. 1953. (3) LA CUEVA / DE SAN PATRICIO. / [3 blocks: a terrified man between 2 ferocious devils.] / SEGUNDA PARTE. / Imprint: Imprenta de Cruzada for Andrés de Sotos, Madrid, 1764. Cf. no. 11. Ornamental line between verse columns.
    • 16. E. M. W.: CUEVA / DE SAN PATRICIO. / n. i., n. d. [Luis de Ramos y Coria, Cordoba, ?1790-1823]. Cf. no. 12.
    • 17. U. L. C: Syn. 6. 77. 6. Num. 172. / CUEVA / DE SAN PATRICIO./ Imprint: Luis de Ramos y Coria, Cordoba, n. d. [?1790-1823].
  • Para vencer a amor, querer vencerle. Margarita, I; Keil III, pp. 513-5. Señor don César Colona...
    • 18. B. M.: T. 1953. (9) [Ornament] / RELACION: / PARA VENCER AMOR, / QUERER VENCERLE. / DE DON PEDRO CALDERON DE LA BARCA. / Imprint: Augustín Laborda, Valencia, n. d. [?1756].
  • La vida es sueño. Basilio, I; Keil I, pp. 5-7. Ya sabéis, estadme atentos...
    • 19. B. M.: T. 1953. (29) [Block of the Infant Christ and St. John in ornamental frame, which contains the words «ECCE AGNUS DEI»] / RELACION DE LA COMEDIA: / LA VIDA / ES SUEÑO. / DE DON PEDRO CALDERON DE LA BARCA. / GALAN. / Imprint: Agustín Laborda, Valencia, 1758.
  • AUTOS SACRAMENTALES

  • Amar y ser amado, y la divina Filotea. Príncipe; Apontes II, pp. 171-3. The opening lines of the speech have been rewritten.
    • 20. B. M.: 12330. l. 1. (84); U. L. C.: Hisp. 7. 81. 1. (51) RELACION / DEL AUTO SACRAMENTAL, / INTITULADO: LA DIVINA PHILOTEA. / DE DON PEDRO CALDERON. / Imprint: Colegio de Nuestra Señora de la Assumpción, Cordoba, n. d. [?1730-67].
  • La devoción de la Misa. Pascual Vives; Apontes V, pp. 173-6. La Ley Natural en quien...
    • 21. B. M.:12330. l. 1. (86) (87) (90); U. L. C.: Hisp. 7. 81. 1. (60) RELACION / DEL AUTO SACRAMENTAL / INTITULADO: / LA DEVOCION DE LA / MISSA. / DE DON PEDRO CALDERON. / n. i., n. d. [?Colegio de N. S. de la Assumpción, Cordoba, ?1730-67].
  • El lirio y la azucena. La Discordia; Apontes V, pp. 130-3. Yo soy la Discordia (ya...
    • 22. U. L. C.: Hisp. 7. 81. 1. (46) [Ornament] / RELACION / DEL AUTO SACRAMENTAL, / INTITULADO: / EL LYRIO, / Y / LA AZUCENA. / DE D. PEDRO CALDERON. / Imprint: Colegio de N. S. de la Assumpción, Cordoba, n. d. [?1730-67].
  • Las órdenes militares. Culpa; Apontes II, pp. 102-5. ¡Ha de la Celeste Curia...
    • 23. B. M.: 12330. l. 1. (89); U. L. C: Hisp. 7. 81. 1. (53) RELACION / DEL AUTO SACRAMENTAL / INTITULADO: / LAS ORDENES / MILITARES. / DE DON PEDRO CALDERON. / Imprint: Colegio de N. S. de la Assumpción, Córdoba, n. d. [?1730-67].
  • El veneno y la triaca. Lucero; Apontes III, pp. 216-9. Yo soy, bellísima Infanta...
    • 24. B. M.: 11450. h. 6. (7) Num. 206. / RELACION / DEL AUTO / SACRAMENTAL / INTITULADO: / EL VENENO Y LA TRIACA. / POR DON PEDRO CALDERON DE LA BARCA. / Imprint: Rafael García Rodríguez, Cordoba, n. d. [?1815].

The chief literary interest of these pieces consists in the fact that they shew clearly the popularity of the long monologues in Calderón's plays. Some modern critics have called these speeches undramatic, but obviously those who bought these chap-books to learn their contents off by heart would have disagreed. They shew that Calderón's rhetoric appealed to a wide public; he may have written for the Court, but he secured the admiration also of those whom he once described as the ingeniosa plebe. Those who criticise adversely the popular culture of the Spanish eighteenth century might at least make allowance for this fact: men and women of little education amused one another by reciting a pretty elaborate kind of poetry.

The relaciones which derive from the autos seem to belong to a slightly different category. Of the five that I have listed four were printed by a Jesuit press: the Colegio de Nuestra Señora de la Assumpción at Córdoba. It may be doubted whether this functioned like an ordinary commercial press, and whether its clientele was the same as that of the other printers who have been mentioned. The autos sacramentales were prohibited in 1765, and the Society of Jesus was suppressed in Spain in 1767. The last item in the list proves that some people in Spain still hankered after the poetry of the autos some fifty years after their prohibition. This phenomenon is also worth some attention.

The earliest Calderonian relaciones that I have found belong to the first third of the eighteenth century. Relaciones by Montalván and by Cristóbal de Monroy y Silva were among the Spanish chap-books that Samuel Pepys brought back from Seville in 1684; they also contained a miscellaneous pliego which included some extracts from El Príncipe constante5. There is some reason to think that the printing of Calderonian relaciones began before Calderón's death.





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