The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-08-18
Cervantes. Lockhart and Roscoe.


Perhaps the most barefaeed pieces Of
literary fraud during the past half cen.
tury have been those of Lockhart and
Roscoe, the latter translating Navarrete':
"Life Of Ceryantes" and published it as
an original English work, and the former
appropriating Pellicers notes and pub.
fishing them as his own. 1t was in 1926
that Lockhart took Motteux's transia
ton and produced the first annotated
edition in English of the "Don Quixote.
1t consists of five small octave volumes
and it must be said that no one who
knew anything of the purity of the
original, its singular eloquence and the
charm of its style would have selected
this version before that of the first fol
the purpose of annexation.
However, it greatly added to the repu
tation of Lockhart, while it has never
been shown to the world that Lockhart
had little or nothing to do in providing
the historical and local knowledge which
is there stored up. Only a Lockhart
could do full justice to the man who SC
arrayed himself in other peoples plumes
and it does not speak well for the pro
gress we have made in critical knOwl
edge of Spanish literature that theft
could be perpetrated on so large a scale
and remain undetected for so many years
Out of some three hundred notes the
greatest number are taken from Pellicer
while not more than a dozen are of Lock.
harts own making, and all these contain
false statements, wrong inferences and
mistranslations.
1t would indeed seem that Lockhart
knew Spanish no better than they knew
German, for all that he appears to have
understood of the Spanish ballad he took
from Depping; and, if comparison b.
made with the Leipsic edition of tht
''Romanza" of 1917, it will be seen t.
what an extent Lockhart failed to under
stand his master, and with what audacity
he published his misconceptions to
world not then SO well instructed as it il
now in the German and Spanish tongues
The ancient Spanish ballads on which thu
fame of LOckhart rests are full of spirit
they cling to the memory of all who reac
them; they are full of beaties-but they
are not Spanish ballads.
1t is now quite evident that Lockhart's
knowledge of Spanish was very limited
that he did not translate the thing.
which he purloined, and that when lie
does venture to make version of his owr
it is invariably wrong to an extent tha
makes it ludicrous. Had Lockhart beer
the master of Spanish which he succeed
ed in inducing the world to believe tha
he was, he would have made much use o.
the commentary of Bowie. He doe
make one allusion to this admirable
work, but it is founded upon remark il
the original which he was evi
IDENTIFY unable to read, and dis
misses with a word of contemp
a work which gave to Spaniards new
interest in their own great book, ant
which will always remain among th
foremost commentaries on the immorta
work of Cervantes. Examples of thes
blunders would be easy as we'll as anus
ing to reproduce, but this must be lef
to more convenient season. In tn
meantime let us encourage the buildin
Of the statue in New York to the memor
of Cervantes. 1t is not the first instanc
of the world giving stone to one of it
worthless who once asked of it simpl
daily bread. ...'