[80] Many lives of Cervantes have been written, of which four need to be mentioned. 1. That of Gregorio Mayans y Siscar, first prefixed to the edition of Don Quixote in the original published in London in 1738, (4 tom., 4to), under the auspices of Lord Carteret, and afterwards to several other editions; a work of learning, and the first proper attempt to collect materials for a life of Cervantes, but ill arranged and ill written, and of little value now, except for some of its incidental discussions. 2. The Life of Cervantes, with the Analysis of his Don Quixote, by Vicente de los Rios, prefixed to the sumptuous edition of Don Quixote by the Spanish Academy, (Madrid, 1780, 4 tom., fol.), and often printed since;—better written than the preceding, and containing some new facts, but with criticisms full of pedantry and of extravagant eulogy. 3. Noticias para la Vida de Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, by J. Ant. Pellicer, first printed in his “Ensayo de una Biblioteca de Traductores,” 1778, but much enlarged afterwards, and prefixed to his edition of Don Quixote (Madrid, 1797-1798, 5 tom., 8vo);—poorly digested, and containing a great deal of extraneous, though sometimes curious, matter; but more complete than any life that had preceded it. 4. Vida de Miguel de Cervantes, etc., por D. Martin Fernandez de Navarrete, published by the Spanish Academy (Madrid, 1819, 8vo);—the best of all, and indeed one of the most judicious and best-arranged biographical works that have been published in any country. Navarrete has used in it, with great effect, many new documents; and especially the large collection of papers found in the archives of the Indies at Seville, in 1808, which comprehend the voluminous Informacion sent by Cervantes himself, in 1590, to Philip II., when asking for an office in one of the American colonies;—a mass of well-authenticated certificates and depositions, setting forth the trials and sufferings of the author of Don Quixote, from the time he entered the service of his country, in 1571; through his captivity in Algiers; and, in fact, till he reached the Azores in 1582. This thorough and careful life is skilfully abridged by L. Viardot, in his French translation of Don Quixote, (Paris, 1836, 2 tom., 8vo), and forms the substance of the “Life and Writings of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra,” by Thomas Roscoe, London, 1839, 18mo.
In the notice which follows in the text, I have relied for my facts on the work of Navarrete, whenever no other authority is referred to; but in the literary criticisms Navarrete can hardly afford aid, for he hardly indulges himself in them at all.
[81] The date of the baptism of Cervantes is Oct. 9, 1547; and as it is the practice in the Catholic Church to perform this rite soon after birth, we may assume, with sufficient probability, that Cervantes was born on that very day, or the day preceding.
[82] Don Quixote, Parte I. c. 29.
[83] “En las riberas del famoso Henares.” (Galatea, Madrid, 1784, 8vo, Tom. I. p. 66.) Elsewhere, he speaks of “nuestro Henares”; the “famoso Compluto” (p. 121); and “nuestro fresco Henares,” p. 108.
[84] Comedias, Madrid, 1749, 4to, Tom. I., Prólogo.
[85] Galatea, Tom. I. p. x., Prólogo; and in the well-known fourth chapter of the “Viage al Parnaso,” (Madrid, 1784, 8vo, p. 53), he says:—
Desde mis tiernos años amé el arte
Dulce de la agradable poesía,
Y en ella procuré siempre agradarte.