Antonio Mira de Amescua. La hija de Carlos Quinto, by Karl Ludwig Selig (ed.), for Bulletin of Spanish Studies 82.5 (2005): 697-98.

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energized, fulfilling the role of the faithful vassal and of the noble husband in an honour drama. In light of the evolution of Alarcon's graciosos, Vega proposes that Don Domingo consolidates the figures of heroic protagonist and clown (50). Early in El acomodado it is observed that in the two years since his marriage at the end of the first play he has grown round and red-faced. Domingo prefers to stay at home in total comfort and indolence. When he reluctantly becomes royal privado he pretends to have gout to avoid the social obligations of his position. Like many Golden-Age bufones, Domingo bluntly speaks truth to power: he does not hesitate to insult his majesty, but also offers him excellent advice unvarnished by tact. A self-fashioned outsider, he is a social critic, exposing the arbitrariness of custom. Vega points out that the structure of El acomodado also demands a third instalment (26). During the first two acts Alarcon has taken his time elaborating on Don Domingo's eccentricities. Contrary to the typical design of the comedia nueva, here the main complication only develops in the third act, and despite a hasty betrothal at the conclusion, loose ends remain. The protagonist's rocky relationship with his wife is still in need of repair. The facts that-exceptionally for a comedia-she is pregnant, and that he has complained bitterly about the prospect of becoming a father, cry out for a resolution. Poetic justice remains to be meted out to Don Domingo's enemy, and the young King Garcia, who has attempted to embark on an extramarital affair, is still left with some accounting to do. Whether the playwright ever produced the third part is unknown. Nevertheless, thanks to German Vega Garcia-Luengos, we have a comprehensive edition of the sequel to No hay mal, an intriguing text to study and teach, and a richer understanding of Juan Ruiz de Alarcon. DIAN FOX

Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. ANTONIO MIRA DE AMESCUA, La hija de Carlos Quinto. Comedia {amosa del Doctor

Mira de Amescua. An Edition with Introductory Notes by Karl-Ludwig Selig. Teatro del Siglo de Oro. Ediciones Criticas 123. Kassel: Edition Reichenberger. 2002. 132 pp. It would appear that this 'modern' edition of Antonio Mira de Amescua's La hija de Carlos Quinto was done as a Master's thesis before Professor Selig reached the age of twenty-one (preface, 2002 [no pag.]). It is also apparent that two Hispanists encouraged Dr Selig to publish this work in 2002. It may also be true that before 2003, when Professor Agustin de la Granja published the Teatro completo of Mira de Amescua, 3 vols (Granada: Editorial Univ. de Granada, 2001-2003), there were few editions of Mira's work, some of which were carelessly edited (ct. my review of Professor John F. Falconieri's edition of Callar en buena ocasion 0 Muerto vivo y enterrado, Ediciones Criticas 35 [Kassel: Edition Reichenberger, 1992], BHS, LXXII, No.2 [1995], 230-31). Hence, even an unpublished Master's thesis on a little known work, undertaken by a stellar critic, as Professor Karl-Ludwig Selig certainly is, would be a welcome addition to the canon. What is remarkable is that with the exception of the 2002 preface, the rest of the work-eonsisting of the original Preface, an Introduction, Acts I-III of the play, the Notes and the Bibliography-appear to be from the 1940s, notwithstanding the one item in the bibliography that dates from the 1970s, namely, James A. Castaneda's Mira de Amescua (Boston: Twayne, 1977). Be that as it may, one admires the succinct introduction, the synopsis of the play according to verse forms, the versification tables and the excellent notes. The Bibliography, as stated, is dated, with the exception of one item. The text itself is clear and legible for the most part and it accounts for missing lines that in other editions are elided. The comedia is also properly indented to reflect metrical changes. All these are undoubtedly meritorious aspects of this edition. However, the text itself suffers from at least three kinds of general defects which may be attributed to the modernization and transmission from an older to an electronic format and,

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perhaps, to a cursory review of the camera-ready copy. These are as follows: a) a few spelling mistakes, b) several badly punctuated passages, and c) an unusual number of errors with respect to accents. Herein are the most obvious examples: (I) misspellings: 'oulperan' (1. 135), 'nat urally' (p. 39), 'constanoia' (1. 698), 'embidiosos' (1. 787), 'punatualidad' (1. 877), 'Anberes' (1. 879), 'certificaeiones' (1. 908), 'agenos' (1. 914), 'gerarquia' (1. 936), 'canoion' (1. 961), 'sta' (1. 1080), 'Inglaterra' (instead of'Ingalaterra', necessary to lengthen 11. 1210 and 1568]), 'estublecer' (1. 1269), 'qua' (1. 2046), 'se' (instead of 'de' [1. 2530]), 'ptolomean' (instead of 'Ptolemaic' [po 113]), and 'Ano' (instead of 'Afio' [po 130]); (II) faulty punctuation: 'Portugal, y a Hungria' (1. 14), '!Hola' (1. 733), 'todos.', (1. 757), inconsistent choice of quotation marks (cf. pp. 46, 47, and 63-64 with pp. 84, 96, and 97), 'y por, mujer' (1. 1070), 'es ,que'(1. 1663), 'me.ha' (1. 1922), 'ha, sido' (1. 1994), 'encargado. I a mi' (11. 2105-07), 'En, esta' (1. 2207), ': yo' (1. 2211), 'EI ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha' (without underlining [po 129]), 'New.York' (p. 130), 'alfabeticode' (p. 131), 'aumentada . Madrid' (p. 131), 'Modern .Language' (p. 131), and 'castellana .' (p. 132); and (III) unusual accentuation: 'Maria' (11. 10, 15), 'ojos' (p. 18), 'conoci' (1. 41), 'desconfia' (1. 86), 'para' (1. 336), 'asi' (11. 639, 706), 'considero' (1. 644), 'entranse' (p. 39), 'aqui' (1. 689), 'Pavia' (1. 693), 'mi' (11. 697, 742, 770, 776), 'fue' (11. 705, 1027, 1068, 1800, 1801, 2371, 2425, 2454), 'vida' (1. 707), 'bizarro' (1. 710), 'Dios' (11. 711, 1050), 'alli' (11. 712, 930), 'fin' (1. 714), 'fui' (11. 723, 1012), 'soberbio' (p. 41), 'vencido' (p. 41), 'vi' (11. 727, 1009, 1010, 1343), 'si' (11. 753, 802, 1614), 'dio' (11. 764, 1437, 1808), 'ingrates' (1. 788), 'dias' (11. 807, 817, 841), 'ois' (1. 825), 'dia' (1. 851), 'Valentin' (1. 851), 'di' (11. 862, 2054), 'labios' (1. 890), 'tenido' (1. 901), 'mios' (1. 915), 'Andres' (11. 929, 945, 973), 'asienten' (1. 952), 'veis' (11. 957, 1377), 'Principe' (11. 1011, 1044), 'por' (1. 1056), 'Castilla' (1. 1060), 'potencias' (1. 1062), 'Ve' (1. 1171), 'necesaria' (1. 1053), 'nacistejijs' (1. 1275), 'fuisteis' (1. 1277), 'recibisteis' (1. 1279), 'escrivisteis' (1. 1324), 'jazmin' (1. 1464), 'mares' (1. 1515), 'cahiz' (1. 1518), 'pies' (1. 1684), 'no' (1. 1750), 'vivo' (1. 2000), 'dais' (11. 2028, 2274), ',Que' (1. 2213), 'porque' (1. 2556), 'Septima' (p. 130) and 'Clasicos' (p. 131). These errors, obviously, are accidental, not substantive, and could be easily corrected in another printing. What is perhaps perplexing is that Internet editions of the same play have corrected most-although not all--errors listed herein, even though they used as a base text the very same 1947 edition that Professor Selig has now brought forth (cf. Dr Vern Williamsen's edition, available at: