[ROJAS, Fernando de]

"Provenance: purchased from Libreria Tuebols, 1954. FIRST PLANTIN EDITION of the most celebrated literary work in the Spanish language before Don Quixote. Maggs cat. 495 makes the interesting claim that its literary value lay in it being 'the first connected long story with a complete plot written in modern literature'. It certainly marks the transition between medieval and renaissance literature and is one of the artistic highlights of the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. A tragi-comedy love story which critiques the more base side of human nature, La Celestina is written purely in dialogue; for this reason it is considered a play as much as a novel and is sometimes staged. Ref. Brunet I, 1720: 'assez jolie et peu commune'; Maggs cat. 495, no. 165 (2nd Plantin edition); Peeters-Fontainas 219; Salva I, 1168; Palau III, 51163. Copy present in MPM"