CERVANTES SAAVEDRA, Miguel De.
First Part of El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Barcelona, 1617.
Barcelona: Bautista Sorita, for Miguel Gracián, 1617.
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“The truth may be stretched thin, but it never breaks, and it always surfaces above lies, as oil floats on water": Rare first part of the first complete edition of Cervantes' masterpiece Don Quixote; the earliest extant edition printed in Barcelona
The earliest extant Barcelona edition of Cervantes' masterpiece, and the first part of the first complete edition of Don Quixote. Small octavo, bound in full contemporary calf with gilt titles and elaborate gilt tooling to the spine, gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, all edges red, illustrated title page. The second part of the first complete edition was printed simultaneously by Sebastián Matevad and sold as a complete set with the present volume by Miguel Gracián, Juan Simón and Rafael Vives. The second part was also printed in 1617 by Sebastián Matevad for the same booksellers, making this the first complete edition of Don Quixote, though just as the two parts were usually bound separately, they are now often found separately. Small stamp and inscription to the title page. A3 torn with loss, lacking A4-A7, small tear to E2, N1 torn into text but without loss. Bookplate to the pastedown. Jesuits of Paris inscription to the title-page. Scarce and desirable.
"Cervantes' great, ironical, romantic story is written in a style so noble, so nervous, so humane, so branded with reality that, as the wise critic has said, the mere touch and impact of it puts courage into our veins… Not to have ever opened it… is to have missed being present at one of the 'great gestures' of the undying, unconquerable spirit of humanity" (Powys, 27). Widely regarded as "the first modern novel", Cervantes' masterpiece was first published in two parts in 1605 and 1615. This, the first known edition of the first part of Don Quixote printed in Barcelona, was printed by Bautista Sorita for three different Barcelona booksellers: Miguel Gracián, Juan Simón and Rafael Vives. The second part was printed simultaneously in 1617 by Sebastián Matevad for the same booksellers making the two parts combined the first complete edition of Don Quixote, though just as the two parts were usually bound separately, they are now found typically found separately when they seldom appear.
First Part of El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Barcelona, 1617.
$60,000.00
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![El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha, Compuesto por Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. [The History of Don Quixote].](https://www.raptisrarebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/RRB-150967-1024x819.jpg)
