The Spanish Bawd

Alternative title(s): The Spanish Bawd (Calisto and Meliboea) [ Annals, p. 130 ] | Celestine, or The Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea  [ Alnwick Castle, MS 510 ]| The The Spanish Bawd, represented in Celestina, or The Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea [1631 folio title page ] | Celestina [ contemporary reference ] | The Tragicomedy of Celestina [ contemporary reference ] |
Author(s): Mabbe, James (translator)
Note: Translation of Fernando de Rojas’s Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea (Burgos, 1499), perhaps from edition La Celestina (Comedia de Calisto y Melibea) (Seville, 1501). “The ‘play’ is really a novel written in dialogue” (Wiggins, vol. 4, p. 65). Two substantive textual versions: 1631 folio; manuscript from 1603-1611 approx. This manuscript is «an abridged and expurgated version […] which indicates the prior existence of another text closer to what was published in 1631» (Wiggins, vol. 4, p. 64).
Date of composition:
  • 1598 (best guess, Wiggins, vol. 4, p. 64)
  • 1595 -1611 (Wiggins, vol. 4, p. 64)
Date of first performance: ?
Date of first publication: 1631
Genre (Annals): Romance
Genre: tragicomedy [source of genre: 1631 folio title page ] Genre: comedy [source of genre: 1631 folio heading ] Genre: literary tragicomedy [source of genre: Wiggins, vol. 4, p. 64 ] Genre: closet translation [source of genre: DEEP]

Catalogue references: Wiggins: 1149 (Vol. 4)
HIERONIMO/EMOTHE text(s): 1631 folio transcript
  • 1631 folio Beale, John Mab, Ralph or Mabbe, Ralph (in Stationers' Register and imprint of issue ESTC S91395); Allot, Robert (in imprint of issue ESTC S107195) Printed title: THE SPANISH BAWD, REPRESENTED JN CELESTINA: OR, The Tragicke-Comedy of CALISTO and MELIBEA single-play print
      ESTC: S91395 for STC 4911.2 (Ralph Mabbe); S107195 for STC 4911 (Robert Allot); S1762 for reissue of ESTC S107195 4911 for Greg 439(i†), 4911.2 for 439a(i*) 762 for Greg 439a(i*), 763 for 439a(i†); 5104.01 439a
      EEBO-TCP: A18331 - British Library - EEBO record – TCP HTML XML A18331.xml for STC 4911 (Robert Allot)
      Observations: Three issues: "Copies of Greg 439(i†) were also issued unchanged as the second part of a collection with The Rogue in 1634 [Greg 439a(ii)]" (DEEP 5104.01)

  • STC/WING:
  • ESTC:
  • DEEP:
  • Greg:
  • Wiggins:

Early Performances

  • Company: Venue: Date:
    Cast:
      Location: Venue type: unknown
      Note: Harbage et al. regard it as a “closet” play (Annals, p. 130). “The ‘play’ is really a novel written in dialogue” (Wiggins, vol. 4, p. 65).
      Information source: Wiggins, Martin. British Drama 1533-1642: A Catalogue. Volume 4: 1598-1602. 2014.

    Modern editions

    • Pérez Fernández, José María, ed. The Spanish Bawd. Mabbe, James. London: MHRA, 2013.
    • Martínez Lacalle, Guadalupe, ed. Celestine, or the Tragick-Comedie of Calisto and Melibea. Mabbe, James. London: Tamesis, 1972.
    • Allen, H. Warner, ed. Celestina; or, the Tragi-Comedy of Calisto and Melibea. Mabbe, James; Rastell, John. New York: Routledge & Sons; E. P. Dutton, 1908. Library of Early Novelists.

    Select Bibliography: Criticism

    • Sánchez-Martí, Jordi. "Review of Pérez Fernández, José María, ed., ‘The Spanish Bawd’, by James Mabbe, London: MHRA, 2013.". SEDERI. 2016, 26, p. 209-16.
    • Pérez Fernández, José María. "Spanish bawds and Quixotic libraries: adventures and misadventures in early English Hispanism and world literature". Comparative Literature. 2016, vol. 4, 68, p. 370-88.
    • Yamamoto-Wilson, John R. "Review of Pérez Fernández, José María, ed., ‘The Spanish Bawd’, by James Mabbe, London: MHRA, 2013.". Translation and Literature. 2015, vol. 1, 24, p. 99-103.
    • Pérez Fernández, José María. "Translation, diplomacy, and espionage: new insights into James Mabbe's career". Translation and Literature. 2014, vol. 1, 23, p. 1-22.
    • Yamamoto-Wilson, John R. "Mabbe's maybes: a Stuart Hispanist in context". Translation and Literature. 2012, vol. 1, 23, p. 319-42.
    • Ruiz Moneva, Ma Angeles. "Main Aspects of the Reception and Conveyance of Irony in the Earliest English Versions of Celestina". Celestinesca. 2010, 34, p. 99-144.
    • Taylor, Gary. "The Cultural Politics of Maybe". Ed. Findlay, Alison, Dutton, Richard , Wilson, Richard. Theatre and Religion. {Falta nombre ciudad}: Lancastrian Shakespeare, 2003, p. 267.
    • Guardia Massó, Pedro. "La Comedia de Calisto y Melibea de Francisco de Rojas, Burgos, 1499/'The Spanish Bawd' represented in Celestina, London, 1631". Ed. Sánchez Escribano, F. Javier. Picaresca española en traducción inglesa (ss. XVI y XVII). {Falta nombre ciudad}: {Falta nombre editorial}, 1998, p. 206.
    • Ardila, John G. "Una traducción 'políticamente correcta': Celestina en la Inglaterra puritana". Celestinesca: Boletín Informativo Internacional. 1988, vol. 2, 22, p. 33-48.
    • Martinez Lacalle, Guadalupe. "A Manuscript Version of Mabbe's Celestina". Revue de Litterature Comparee. 1965, 39, p. 78-91.
    • Houck, Helen Phipps. "Mabbe's Paganization of the Celestina". PMLA: Publications of the Modern Language Association of America. 1939, vol. 2, 54, p. 422-31.
    • Pérez Fernández, José María. "[Introduction to] 'The Spanish Bawd, represented in Celestina…'". Ed. Wilson-Lee, Edward. The EEBO Introduction Series. {Falta nombre ciudad}: ProQuest LLC, {Falta año pub}. URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2003&res_id=xri:eebo&rft_id=xri:eebo:screen:intro:52633107

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