The Gallant Spaniard - by Miguel Cervantes

About the Book

The first English translation of Miguel de Cervantes's El gallardo español

Book Synopsis

There are surprising omissions in the translated body of Spanish Golden Age literature, including in the corpus of Miguel de Cervantes. We have many highly competent translations of Don Quixote, but until now not a single English version of his play The Gallant Spaniard. Although Cervantes's dramatic works have always attracted less attention than his narrative fiction, there has been significant critical interest in this play in recent years, due in no small part to its unique portrayal of Christian-Muslim relations. Critics have argued persuasively about the value of The Gallant Spaniard in the service of a more general understanding of Cervantes in his last years, specifically in regard to his views on this cultural divide.

This edition, translated by Philip Krummrich, consists of a critical introduction and a full verse translation of the play with notes.

Review Quotes

"Krummrich's competent full verse translation of The Gallant Spaniard is the first English edition of one of Cervantes's most daring plays. Its nuanced and emphathetic staging of Christian-Muslim relations in Imperial Spain will appeal to Cervantine readers everywhere. This is a much needed addition to the translated body of Cervantes's theater."
--Moisés R. Castillo, author of Indios en escena: La representación del amerindio en el teatro del Siglo de Oro

"The Gallant Spaniard is one of the most surprising and interesting works for the contemporary Cervantes reader, exploring otherness, war, and humanity with ethical complexity. This first English translation does the work justice because, despite the difficulties of respecting the original verse, it achieves admirable accuracy in meaning as well as idiomatic naturalness in language."
--Mercedes Alcalá Galán​, author of "Con esta carga nacemos las mujeres" Discursos sobre el cuerpo femenino en la España de Cervantes

"The Gallant Spaniard truly advances Cervantes's scholarship and Golden Age theatre by adding new titles to the repertory through translation."
--Esther Fernández, author of To Embody the Marvelous: The Making of Illusions in Early Modern Spain

About the Author

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616) is widely considered the greatest writer in the history of the Spanish language. He authored lauded works of verse, theater, and prose, chief among them Don Quixote.

Philip Krummrich is a professor of comparative literature at Morehead State University.