The Quixote of Avellaneda

Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) immortalized himself with his famous novel Don Quixote, which is the most translated book in the world after the Bible, appearing in over 140 languages. The story of the Man of la Mancha, a pseudo-knight-errant who has been deranged by overconsumption of medieval chivalric romances, is the single most influential work of the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon. After the first part was published in 1605, Cervantes began work on a sequel that was published in 1615, but he was preempted by the **publication of a spurious second edition in 1614 by a mysterious author known only by the pseudonym Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda of Tordesillas, which was supposedly printed by a certain Felipe Roberto in Tarragona. The identity remains contested, but he must have been a well-educated man, possibly of the nobility, and a skilled writer. It is possible that this figure was a rival of Cervantes, because in the prologue he needlessly insults Cervantes, who was naturally offended and responded with criticism of Avellaneda in his own authentic sequel. Although inferior to Cervantes’ masterpiece, Avellaneda's work spurred an aging Cervantes to complete his Part Two of Don Quixote. Nevertheless, this apocryphal novel was reprinted several times and remains an interesting read, particularly for literary historians.