The Simpson Library is the new home of an exhibit dedicated to Miguel De Cervantes. This exhibit is houses several books, a poster, and a small statue all representative of Cervantes. Cervantes was a famous author so we decided to use his books along with books about him to most represent him. Our display case accurately depicts the works of and by Cervantes in the Simpson Library.

Of the books, The Cervantes Encyclopedia by Howard Mancing, stands out the most. The encyclopedia has all Cervantes’ works, characters, concepts and key terms. This book itself covers everything the viewers could want to know about Cervantes as an author. Howard Mancing is a well known professor of Spanish at Purdue University, and has studied Cervantes’ works for a long time. The cover of the book shows scenes from Cervantes’ famous novel, Don Quixote, along with a small, black and white picture of Cervantes. The bright colors used in the cover will surely attract more attention to the exhibit.

Another important book in our display is the Works by Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra. This book summarizes and highlights the themes and concepts of Cervantes’ works. This book was less aesthetically pleasing but more informative of Cervantes’s works. Cervantes had many poetry and other writings that became famous, but he still decided he wanted to be most famous for his plays.

Cervantes also wrote 12 novellas that were compiled into The Novelas Ejemplares. The novellas were written in 1613, and were the first spanish novelas. Novellas are usually comprised into realistic nature and idealistic nature. Similarly with Don Quixote, these works have multiple translations and can be interpreted in many ways because of the differences in who translates it. These novellas inspired many other plays and works after they were published such as Love’s Pilgrimage.

 

Bibliography

Mancing, Howard. The Cervantes encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004. Print.

De, Cervantes Saavedra Miguel, and Juan Bautista. Avalle-Arce. Novelas ejemplares. Madrid: Castalia, 1982. Print.

De, Cervantes Saavedra Miguel, James Fitzmaurice-Kelly, Herman Oelsner, A. B. Welford, John Ormsby, and Norman Maccoll. The complete works of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. N.p.: Gowans & Gray, 1901. Print.