A Spanish translation of Tirant lo Blanch was published in Valladolid, in 1511.[1] The name of the translator is not known. The eminent Catalan book-lover and scholar, Don Isidro Bonsoms y Sicart, of Barcelona, has a copy of it in his library. We have no information in regard to the existence of any other copy. An Italian translation was made by Lelio Manfredi and published in Venice, in 1538.[2] A French translation by the Comte de Caylus was published about 1737; London is given as the place of publication, but this is probably incorrect.[3]
In the course of my studies of Tirant lo Blanch, I have found myself confronted by three important questions: (1) What are the real facts concerning the authorship of this book of chivalry? (2) Is it true that Tirant, the hero of the book, stands for the historic personage Roger de Flor, in connection with the Catalan-Aragonese expedition to Constantinople in the early years of the fourteenth century? (3) What are the historical data utilized by the author in the composition of his work? Each of these problems I have investigated, and the processes and results are duly set forth in their appropriate places in this work. Three distinct parts of it will be devoted to a consideration of these three questions. They will be preceded by an analysis of Tirant lo Blanch, to which the reader will be referred whenever it may be deemed expedient or necessary. The analysis is, moreover, intended to throw light on all the points mentioned in the quotation from Don Quijote; to give a fuller account of the activities of Tirant than has been done up to the present time; and to give as accurate an idea of the book as a reasonable allotment of space will permit.
