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Doña Perfecta   By: (1843-1920)

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First Page:

DOÑA PERFECTA

POR BENITO PÉREZ GALDÓS

WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY A. R. MARSH

VOCABULARY BY STEVEN T. BYINGTON

=The Athenaeum Press= GINN AND COMPANY PROPRIETORS BOSTON U.S.A.

PREFACE

This edition of one of the best known of modern Spanish novels has been prepared for the use of college classes in Spanish that have already mastered the elements of Spanish grammar, but have not yet had much practice in reading. The editor has found by actual experience that it is safe to undertake the story in three or four months from the time when the study of the language is begun, that is, in the second half of the first year's work in the subject. As the book is not a long one, it should be possible to read it entire before the close of the year. Indeed, with an earnest class, even less time than this will be found to suffice.

The novel is printed exactly (save correction of printer's errors) as it appears in the eighth Spanish edition (Madrid, 1896). At the same time, great pains have been taken to make the orthography and accentuation conform in all respects to the standard of the last edition of the Spanish Academy's Dictionary. The Notes are considerably fuller than is customary in college editions of modern works in foreign languages. This has been made necessary in part by the dreadful insufficiency of the existing Spanish English dictionaries, and in part by the editor's desire to afford the student some aid in dealing with grammatical peculiarities not fully discussed in the more available text books. As a further help to grammatical study, numerous references have been inserted to Ramsey's Text Book of Modern Spanish (New York, 1894) and to Knapp's Grammar of the Modern Spanish Language (Boston, 1891).

A.R.M.

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS March, 1897

In the new impression of this book the accentuation has been conformed to the new (fourteenth) edition of the Academy's Dictionary, a small number of misprints have been corrected, and a vocabulary has been added.

As is stated in the above preface, a considerable part of the notes in the first impression were intended as a partial substitute for a vocabulary. Obviously, the insertion of the vocabulary made such notes mainly superfluous; hence in the present edition such notes as seemed to be mere duplication of the vocabulary are omitted. At the same time it was inevitable that in the work of compiling the vocabulary some additional occasions for making notes were found, and new light was obtained on some places where notes already stood. The result is that the notes in the present impression, though shorter than before, contain (apart from vocabulary matter) more information, and it is hoped that they will at least maintain the reputation which this edition of Doña Perfecta has gained.

Besides the references to the grammars of Ramsey and Knapp, references to Coester's Spanish Grammar (Boston, 1912) are now given.

INTRODUCTION

The two literary genres in which Spaniards have most excelled are the drama and the novel. Indeed, outside of these two forms, it may be said that no Spaniard has won a literary success of the first order. Thus, in the past six centuries there have been many Spanish poets of real worth; and yet in the list of the world's supreme poets no Spanish name appears. Among the world's great philosophers Spain has no representative, though she has had thinkers of genuine power. She has had no moralist, or historian, or political writer, or scientist of the highest rank. Even religion, which at first sight would seem to be the predominant interest of Spain, has not there inspired any work of universal and permanent appeal to the race... Continue reading book >>




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