A modernized edition of Juan Pérez de Montalván's Para todos ejemplos morales humanos y divinos en que se tratan diversas, ciencias, materias y facultades. Repartidos en los siete días de la semana y dirigidos a diferentes personas

Abstract

Juan Pérez de Montalván, an exponent of a variety of genres, gained recognition and a popular following in the seventeenth century with his poetry, "autos sacramentales, " "novelas, " and exuberant production of "comedias. " His works retained their popularity through the inception of the eighteenth century, only to fade into obscurity. "Para todos exemplos morales humanos y divinos en que se tratan diversas ciencias, materias y facultades. Repartidos en los siete días de la semana y dirigidos a diferentes personas" was originally published in 1632, and the most recent edition of this work was dated 1736. Literary analysis of any known editions of "Para todos" presents many challenges, especially when pertaining to their availability, as they are rare texts in spite of having twenty editions. Current research pertaining to Montalván has focused primarily on the conflict between him and Francisco de Quevedo, arising from the publication of Montalván’s Para todos and Quevedo’s subsequent response entitled "Para todos: La zurriaga de Perinola, y censura del libro que compuso Juan Pérez de Montalván, intitulado ‘Para todos’", wherein he attacks Montalván’s encyclopedic and superfluous assemblage of second-hand knowledge. Montalván’s role as Lope de Vega’s protégé and biographer has also been a subject of study.

"Para todos" exemplifies a true miscellany, defined in "A Handbook of Literature" as "a collection of compositions on a variety of topics" (Holman and Harmon 295). This extensive heterogeneous compilation containing Biblical doctrine, philosophical treatises, mythological fables, astrological tenets, and astronomical facts, is bound within a frame story presented over a period of seven days. Montalván merges his "comedias" and "novelas" into this tremendous collection of information. His poetry, "comedias, " and "novelas" display a medley of distinctive literary techniques-"amplificatio" through Latinisms and definitions, verisimilitude or realistically descriptive passages often utilizing sharp contrasts, juxtaposition of concepts, metaphors, mystery, suspense, historically correct incidents, and strong non-traditional female characters. His writing displays characteristics of redundancy and grandiloquence, frequently within rather conventional plots.

The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a modernized text of "Para todos," therefore furnishing the readership the opportunity for sustained Montalván studies. This modernization will facilitate future studies of relevant topics, such as determining the degree of intertextuality between "Para todos" and other works, or investigating the possibility that the conception of the idea for "Para todos" was prompted by Quevedo’s "Libro de todas las cosas."