The Book of Good Love , considered to be one of the masterpieces of Spanish poetry, is a semi-biographical account of romantic adventures by Juan Ruiz, the Archpriest of Hita, dating from 1330. The work is considered as the best piece in the medieval genre known as Mester de Clerecía. The Book begins with prayers and a guide as to how to read the work, followed by stories each containing a moral and often comical tale. The Book of Good Love is a varied and extensive composition of 1728 stanzas, centering on the fictitious autobiography of Juan Ruiz, Archpriest of Hita. Today three... manuscripts of the work survive: the Toledo and Gayoso manuscripts originating from the fourteenth century, and the Salamanca manuscript copied at the start of the fifteenth century by Alonso de Paradinas. All three manuscripts have various pages missing, which prevents a complete reading of the book, and each manuscript varies extensively from each other due to the diversions of the authors. The work most commonly read today was suggested by Menéndez Pidal in 1898, based on sections from all three manuscripts.
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| Author: | Juan Ruiz |
| Year published: | 1330 |
| Number of editions: | 5 |