Cabinet 15: Translations

There is no doubt that Mateo Alemán is the author of the Spanish picaresque novel Guzmán de Alfarache, but how much did English translator, James Mabbe, contribute to its content? The novel was published in two parts in 1599 and 1604, and Mabbe translated it in 1623 under the pseudonym Don Diego Puede-ser (James May-be), and did so using both Spanish and Italian exemplars.

Mateo Alemán, The Rogue: or the Life of Guzman de Alfarache, Written in Spanish by Matheo Aleman, Servant to His Catholike Maiestie, and Borne in Seville, translated by James Mabbe (London: Edward Blount, 1623) Shoults Ec 1623 A