THE SPANISH STAGE IN THE TIME OF LOPE DE VEGA BY HUGO ALBERT RENNERT, Ph.D. (Freiburg i. B.) PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL SPANISH ACADEMY, OF THE ROYAL GALICIAN ACADEMY, MEMBER OF THE HISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA PREFACE LITTLE more than a decade has elapsed since the attention of scholars has again been directed to the history of the Spanish stage, and their labors have been rewarded with most unexpected success. While these results have been due to the work of a number of investigators-Sanchez-Arjona, Cotarelo, Restori, and others-it is to the late Dr. Cristóbal Pérez Pastor's patient and unwearying researches that we are especially indebted. The mass of material which he has brought to light will always form the foundation upon which others must build. For nearly a century, or since the appearance of Pellicer's work upon the Spanish stage in 1804 (excepting the very important matter contributed by Schack in the Nachträge to his Geschichte der dramatischen Literatur und Kunst in Spanien, 1854), little of importance had been done by scholars in this field until very recent times. About ten years ago Pérez Pastor began investigations in the Archives of Madrid and other Spanish cities that have yielded the richest results, and to these the present volume is greatly indebted. The labors of this distinguished investigator have, moreover, shown that the first volume of Pellicer's Tratado Historico sobre el Origen y Progresos de la Comedia y del Histrionismo en España, Madrid, 1804, is, upon the whole, trustworthy as far as |