Galdós, Benito Pérez

Benito Pérez Galdós (May 10, 1843 – January 4, 1920) was a Spanish realist novelist. Some authorities consider him second only to Cervantes in stature as a Spanish novelist. He was the leading literary figure in 19th century Spain.

Galdós was a prolific writer, publishing 31 novels, 46 Episodios Nacionales (National Episodes), 23 plays, and the equivalent of 20 volumes of shorter fiction, journalism and other writings. He remains popular in Spain, although as recently as 1950, few of Galdós's works were available translated to English.

Gerona
1993 0-7734-9251-8
This is the first English translation of Galdós' historical novel Gerona (1874), which recounts the savage atrocities perpetrated by the French armies against the Spanish citizenry during the Napoleonic Wars in Spain at the beginning of the 19th century.

Price: $179.95


Juan Martín El Empecinado
2003 0-7734-7779-9
This is the first English translation of Galdós’s Juan Martin El Empecinado (1874), in the first series of his Episodios nacionales. This is the only novel in the first series dedicated to a guerilla fighter rather than to analyses of the battles. In this novel, Galdós recreates the popular figure of Juan Martín “El Empecinado” from faithful accounts based on his personal life and deeds as a guerrillero. He skillfully depicts opposing political and ideological forces, revealing to his readers a variety of elements that were weakening the nation from within. The novel presents a vast context of historical, literary, and Biblical references which lead the reader to a deeper understanding of the force that makes people unite to preserve the integrity and cultural values of their nation. The heroic figure of Juan Martín highlights his successful military leadership, his campaigns against the French during the War of Independence and his unique characteristics as an exemplary leader. It presents a detailed view of the world of the Spanish guerrillas in the 19th century. It is a valuable source for historical information. This translation is must for scholars, researchers, and the general public interested in Spanish history, literature, and culture.

Price: $199.95


Reality / Realidad
1992 0-7734-9175-9
Reality/Realidad is the second of Galdós' paired novels which tell the same story from two very different perspectives, and through two very different narrative structures. The first, The Unknown, was an epistolary novel. Reality, presented here in English, is wholly theatrical and dramaticized - an intriguing and, for its time (1889), very innovative, standpoint. It was later reworked into a proper drama, acclaimed by publics and critics alike.

Price: $199.95


The Unknown / La Incognita
1991 0-7734-9444-8
The Unknown (1889) is Galdós' first and only totally epistolary novel. The narrator, writing to a friend in the country, tells of Madrid's politics, society, amours, characters, and crimes, in lively, ironic, amusing style. This fresh and witty translation retains Galdós' humor and sarcasm on the society and people he knew so well.

Price: $199.95


Royalist Volunteer/un Voluntario Realista
1993 0-7734-9360-3
Galdós's Episodes nacionales are the epic of modern Spain, describing the major events of 19th-century Spanish history from 1805 to 1870. Though immensely popular in Spain, they are virtually unknown in the English-speaking world. A Royalist Volunteer is the first National Episode from the second series to be translated into English. It is a fast-paced story set in 1827 during the `War of the Aggrieved', an aborted prelude to the bloody Carlist War of the 1830s. It is unique among the National Episodes in that its fictional element predominates over its historical background. Facing-page text and translation.

Price: $279.95


The Theater of Galdós -- Realidad, 1892
1993 0-7734-9254-2
This new annotated edition of the great Spanish writer Galdós' first staged play, Realidad, marks the centary of its début in 1892. The compromise to which the new dramatist was subjected in the creative process is traced through the text by reference to the four sets of manuscripts conserved in the Casa-Museo in Las Palmas. Much of the confusion and apparent contradiction found in the published text of this ambitious play is thus clarified, and its latent dimensions revealed.

Price: $179.95


The Theater of Galdós -- Voluntad, 1895
2000 0-7734-7525-7
In this play, Galdós’s concept of ‘la mujer nueva’ is incarnated in his new heroine, Isidora, whose willpower or ‘womanpower’ he acknowledged as having been directly inspired by his leading lady, Maria Guerrero. For the feminist, the triumphant Isidora of Voluntad is one of Galdós’s more satisfying heroines, as traditional binary oppositions are broken down and the new woman is allowed to spread her wings and take control.

Price: $179.95


The Theater of Galdós: La Loca De La Casa (1893)
1996 0-7734-8862-6
This new annotated edition of Galdós's second staged play, La loca de la casa (1893), is the second in the series The Theatre of Galdós launched in 1992 to mark the centenary of this great writer's turn to the stage. All manuscripts, adaptaciones and reviews available in the Casa-Museo in Las Palmas and the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid have been consulted in order to provide as informed an edition as possible. Issues of class and gender are of particular interest in La loca de la casa, where social classes clash and then fuse as the power of motherhood is exploited and arguably abused.

Price: $139.95


Translation of Angel Guerra by Benito Perez Galdós
1990 0-88946-373-5
Angel Guerra is an excellent example of the great tradition of nineteenth-century realism. The translation reveals the complex interplay of Spanish history, politics, and European literary influences that characterize the many works of Galdós. The introduction investigates the philosophical influences, especially Krausism, in his realist novels, and contains a biographical sketch of the author.

Price: $379.95