Mortenson, Barbara J.

Dr. Barbara J. Mortenson is Professor Emerita of Romance Languages and Literatures from the University of San Francisco. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Mortenson is working on the next volume of Critical Editions of Spanish Artistic Ballads (Romanceros Artisticos) 1580-1650 entitled Primera Parte del Manojuelo de Romances (1601).

Critical Editions of Spanish Artistic Ballads, 1580-1650: Romanceros Artísticos

1997 0-7734-8623-2
The ballad collections, each significant in its own way, will fill major gaps in the history of the genre. This play represents a transition to the school of Lope de Vega. Includes Introduction, bibliography, reproduction of text with annotations, indexes (contents, onomastica, metrics, errata, authorship, glossary, etc.) In Spanish

Critical Editions of Spanish Artistic Ballads, 1580-1650: Primera Parte de Romancero y Tragedias (1587) de Gabriel Lasso de la Vega

2006 0-7734-5781-X
Gabriel Lobo Lasso de la Vega (1558-1616?) was one of the major composers of ballads of his generation. However, while Lope de Vega and his followers were creating a “New Ballad” oriented towards the lyric, Lasso, a traditionalist, cultivated the heroic. Indeed, he wrote an epic poem he dictated to Hernan Cortes, generally known as La Mexicana (1588 and 1594), and in 1601 he published his Eulogies to three Spanish heroes, one of whom was again Cortes. An inveterate patriot, he favored a strong, centralized monarchy. His tragedy, The Destruction of Constantinople, the second of two in this collection, was a warning to the West with regard to the continued threat of Islam, and was aimed specifically at the problem of the moriscos of Spain (the descendants of Moors).

The collection consists of 76 selections devoted principally to the history of Spain, with a final tribute to King Philip II. Lasso also cultivated themes from antiquity and the pastoral genre, then in vogue. The historical subjects naturally required a style more eloquent than emotional, more Renaissance than Baroque.

Many of the poems were repeated with abundant variants in the two ballad collections which followed in 1601 and 1603, titled Manojuelo de romances (literally, “A Small Bundle of Ballads”). They are characterized by their introduction of a large number of satirical selections, a genre in which Lasso proved to be a master. Herein he was able to mock not only the foibles of contemporary society, but also his personal trials and tribulations.

Lasso de la Vega, like Cervantes, was at one and the same time an idealist and a realist – an advocate of strong moral fiber, but, without rancor, ever cognizant of its rarity.

Critical Editions of Spanish Artistic Ballads, 1580-1650: Romances Varios (1640)

2001 0-7734-8625-9
All publications of romanceros artísticos are intrinsically valuable, because the definitive history of the genre cannot be written until we possess a greater volume of edited texts than is now available. This 7-volume series fills a large gap. The ballad collections, each significant in its own way, will fill major gaps in the history of the genre. The play represents a transition to the school of Lope de Vega. Includes Introduction, bibliography, reproduction of text with annotations, indexes (contents, onomastica, metrics, errata, authorship, glossary, etc.). In Spanish. Series ISBN: 0-7734-8566-X [Critical Editions of Spanish Artistic Ballads Nos. 1-7] The Romances varios is a most significant collection, since it is virtually the sole representative of the plebeian romance of the seventeenth century. The many reprints of and additions to the original text attest to the persistence of archaic ballad traditions among the populace. This work required a complex bibliography, extensive notes regarding contemporary events and personages, and a glossary of current argot. Vol. 1: JARDIN DE AMADORES (1611) The Jardín de amadores is unique in that it bridges the gap from the period of the romance of the Flores to that of an elitist ballad post-1600. "Although it also contains poems in a number of different meters, the Jardín is one of the most important collections of the late 16th and 17th century genre known as the romancero nuevo. . . . Barbara Mortenson's edition is richly and meticulously annotated. The introductory study she has provided, as well as the exhaustive indices make this edition an indispensable research instrument for anyone working on Spanish Golden Age poetry." - Samuel J. Armistead 0-7734-8623-2 $109.95/£69.95 500pp. 1997 UPCOMING From the Romancero of Gabriel Lobo Lasso de la Vega The Romancero is to date unedited. While his other two anthologies have been published, they are not critical editions. Hence these volumes are a definitive study of the romances of this major figure of the first period, who is characterized by his conservatism. As an ancillary contribution, there is also a critical edition of the previously unpublished tragedy of his Romancero. The three volumes of ballads of Gabriel Lobo Lasso de la Vega: Vol. 3: ROMANCERO Y TRAGEDIAS (1587) 0-7734-8627-5 [CESAB 3] NYP Vol. 4 : PRIMERA PARTE DEL MANOJUELO DE ROMANCES (1601) 0-7734-8629-1 [CESAB 4] NYP Vol. 5 : SEGUNDA PARTE DEL MANOJUELO DE ROMANCES (1603) 0-7734-8631-3 [CESAB 5] NYP Vol. 6: TRAGEDIA DE LA HONRA DE DIDO RESTAURADA (1587) 0-7734-8633-X [CESAB 6] NYP Vol. 7: CRITICAL EDITION OF MS.3700 OF THE BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL OF MADRID (c. 1615-1620) 0-7734-8635-6 [CESAB 7] NYP UPCOMING From the Romancero of Gabriel Lobo Lasso de la Vega The Romancero is to date unedited. While his other two anthologies have been published, they are not critical editions. Hence these volumes are a definitive study of the romances of this major figure of the first period, who is characterized by his conservatism. As an ancillary contribution, there is also a critical edition of the previously unpublished tragedy of his Romancero. The three volumes of ballads of Gabriel Lobo Lasso de la Vega: Vol. 3: ROMANCERO Y TRAGEDIAS (1587) 0-7734-8627-5 [CESAB 3] NYP Vol. 4 : PRIMERA PARTE DEL MANOJUELO DE ROMANCES (1601) 0-7734-8629-1 [CESAB 4] NYP Vol. 5 : SEGUNDA PARTE DEL MANOJUELO DE ROMANCES (1603) 0-7734-8631-3 [CESAB 5] NYP Vol. 6: TRAGEDIA DE LA HONRA DE DIDO RESTAURADA (1587) 0-7734-8633-X [CESAB 6] NYP Vol. 7: CRITICAL EDITION OF MS.3700 OF THE BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL OF MADRID (c. 1615-1620) 0-7734-8635-6 [CESAB 7] NYP A note about Mellen's series subscription plan: Upon subscribing to this series [CESAB] these volumes will be available at $49.95/£29.95 per volume, a substantial savings over the average $99.95/£59.95 per volume, as each volume is expected to be between 400-500 pages.