Calderon de la Barca, Pedro.

Six Dramas of Calderon.

      Calderon de la Barca, Pedro (1600-1681). Six Dramas of Calderon. Freely Translated by Edward Fitzgerald. London: William Pickering, 1853. First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Some staining and uneven fading but a very good copy. Inscribed by the translator to the actor Charles Macready, "with the Translator's Respects." Also signed on the same page for Macready and dated 1858. This translation of Calderón is done in blank verse which successfully summarizes the facts of the play with added imagery in a way that made it "eminently readable." (Cambridge/ English Vol XIII). The great actor William Macready had retired from the stage in 1851, but his friendship with Edward FitzGerald goes back a generation. FitzGerald had written several reviews of Macready's acting and often attended the performances in London. Edward FitzGerald (b. March 31, 1809, Bredfield, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, Eng.--d. June 14, 1883, Merton, Norfolk), English writer, best known for his Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. He translated Six Dramas of Calderón (1853) before turning to Oriental studies and mastering Persian.)