[394] Preface of Joseph Ortis de Villena, prefixed to the Autos in Tom. XVIII. of the Obras Sueltas. They were not printed till 1644, nine years after Lope’s death, and then they appeared at Zaragoza. One other auto, attributed to Lope, “El Tirano Castigado,” occurs in a curious volume, entitled “Navidad y Corpus Christi Festejados,” collected by Isidro de Robles, and already referred to.
[395] The manuscript collection referred to in the text was acquired by the National Library at Madrid in 1844. It fills 468 leaves in folio, and contains ninety-five dramatic pieces. All of them are anonymous, except one, which is said to be by Maestro Ferruz, and is on the subject of Cain and Abel; and all but one seem to be on religious subjects. This last is called “Entremes de las Esteras,” and is the only one bearing that title, The rest are called Coloquios, Farsas, and Autos; nearly all being called Autos, but some of them Farsas del Sacramento, which seems to have been regarded as synonymous. One only is dated. It is called “Auto de la Resurreccion de Christo,” and is licensed to be acted March 28, 1568. Two have been published in the Museo Literario, 1844, by Don Eugenio de Tapia, of the Royal Library, Madrid, one of the most eminent Spanish scholars and writers of this century. The first, entitled “Auto de los Desposorios de Moisen,” is a very slight performance, and, except the Prologue or Argument, is in prose. The other, called “Auto de la Residencia del Hombre,” is no better, but is all in verse. In a subsequent number, Don Eugenio publishes a complete list of the titles, with the figuras or personages that appear in each. It is much to be desired that all the contents of this MS. should be properly edited. Meanwhile, we know that saynetes were sometimes interposed between different parts of the performances; that allegorical personages were abundant; and that the Bobo or Fool constantly recurs. Some of them were probably earlier than the time of Lope de Vega; perhaps as early as the time of Lope de Rueda, who, as I have already said in note 38 to this chapter, prepared autos of some kind for the city of Toledo, in 1561. But the language and versification of the two pieces that have been printed, and the general air of the fictions and allegories of the rest, so far as we can gather them from what has been published, indicate a period nearly or quite as late as that of Lope de Vega.
[396] This is the first of the loas in the volume, and, on the whole, the best.
[397] Obras Sueltas, Tom. XVIII. p. 367.
[398] Ibid., p. 107.
[399] Obras Sueltas, Tom. XVIII. p. 8. “Entremes del Letrado.”
[400] Ibid., p. 114. “Entremes del Poeta.”
[401] Ibid., p. 168. “El Robo de Helena.”
[402] Ibid., p. 373. “Muestra de los Carros.”
[403] It is the last in the collection, and, as to its poetry, one of the best of the twelve, if not the very best.