First Madrid Edition of Both Parts, a very rare book, interesting as for the first time, both parts are issued as a single editorial enterprise in the city of its first appearance, a very nice copy in the contemporary binding, and an extremely rare appearance in the market.
“Very few books can be said to have added a new field to human imagination, but Don Quixote is one of them” (Printing and the Mind of Man, Indiana University Bloomington 1973).
The Quijote gained immediate success following its publication, in fact even before its publication, other authors had already commented on the writing of the masterpiece in their own works; this is so, that in Lisbon, unauthorized editions were published during the run of 1605, a second edition with some corrections was rushed to the printers by Cuesta again in 1605 following the news of the Lisbon unauthorized editions, and then this Valencia edition was authorized for printing in July 1605, only half way through the year. Editions and translations followed around Europe with fascinating speed, to the point that it became one of the most reproduced and translated books of all time.
Don Quixote is a landmark of Western literature and one of the most-translated books in the world. “It was the variety, the liveliness, and the gibes at the famous, which won it instant fame. … Within months Don Quixote and Sancho Panza had become legendary... Don Quixote is one of those universal works which are read by all ages at all times, and there are very few who have not at one time or another felt themselves to be Don Quixote confronting the windmills of Sancho Panza at the inn” (PMM).
The last copy to come to the public market was Sotheby’s 1981, London.
Provenance: acquired from Bernard Quaritch, U.K., in 1981; the Ken Rapoport Collection, New York; Swann Galleries New York.
Rius 17; Seris 16.
