Definition of material.
Spanish folktale material is much more abundant than has commonly been supposed. It was believed by some that such material did not exist until the publications of the earlier collectors began to appear. Among these was an Englishman, V. J. Thoms, who says in the introduction to his Lays and legends of Spain, 1834, "... one part of the task which we have proposed to ourselves ... is to gather together such legendary tales of Spanish origin as now lie scattered and far apart ... The popular tales in Spain have never yet been collected ... Our ignorance of the existence of legendary tales in Spain must not be considered a proof of their non-existence". More recently the existence of an abundance of folktales in Spain has been generally conceded; but the misconception that, aside from one or two collections, almost none of this material has been published is still current. As early as 1887 Hernández de Moreno[1] defended Spain against this misbelief. It is true that only a small proportion of the great stock of Spanish folktales has been published, and that many of these are not easily accessible, being hidden away in scattered journals, footnotes, etc. The purpose of this index is to render this material accessible and perhaps stimulate further interest in this fertile field.
On scanning the bibliography, one discerns three outstanding periods in the publication of Spanish folktales:
- ↑ "Pel folklore spagnuolo" in Archivio per lo studio delle tradizione popolari, 1887 VI 575—6.
