The beginning of the ingenious gentleman Don Quixote of la Mancha

Abstract

The ingenious hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605) by Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) is a must-read for every Spanish speaker. Having been published four hundred years ago, access to the unforgettable world of the novel is made easier if we have an edition that guides us with wisdom and discretion through the glorious pages of this great creation of Cervantes' genius. That function is fulfilled, for example, by the one prepared by Martin de Riquer, a renowned specialist in the Spanish novel par excellence, and in whose name we pay homage to all those scholars who have dedicated themselves to the enormous task of perpetuating the printed presence of Don Quixote among readers of all times and of all societies who travel in admiration through the adventures of the famous La Mancha hidalgo and all the characters who surround and complement him, among them, the singular Sancho Panza, an irreplaceable pair of the most universal protagonist of Spanish letters.