JUAN VALERA Y See also:

• ALCALA (Moorish al Kala, the " Fortress " or " Castle ")

ALCALA GALIANO (1824-1905)  , See also:

• SPANISH

Spanish novelist, son of a retired See also:

• COMMODORE (a form of " commander"; in the 17th century the term " commandore " is used)

commodore, Jose Valera, who married Dona Dolores See also:

• ALCALA (Moorish al Kala, the " Fortress " or " Castle ")

Alcala Galiano, marquesa de la Paniega, widow of a Swiss See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general named Freuller, was See also:

• BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born on the 18th of See also:

• OCTOBER

October 1824 at See also:

• CABRA

Cabra (See also:

• CORDOVA (Span. C6rdoba)
• CORDOVA (Span. Cordoba; Lat. Corduba)

Cordova) . Valera' was educated at See also:

• MALAGA

Malaga and at the university of See also:

• GRANADA
• GRANADA, LUIS DE (1504-1588)

Granada, where he took a- degree in See also:

• LAW
• LAW (0. Eng. lagu, M. Eng. lawe; from an old Teutonic root lag, " lie," what lies fixed or evenly; cf. Lat. lex, Fr. loi)
• LAW, JOHN (1671—1729)
• LAW, WILLIAM (1686-1761)

law . Entering See also:

• DIPLOMACY (Fr. diplomatic)

diplomacy in 1847, he became unpaid attache to thedied on the 18th of See also:

• APRIL

April 1905 . Valera's first publication, Canciones; Romances y Poemas, was published in 1856 . His verses are melodious, finished and various in subject; but they are rather the imitative exercises of a scholarly See also:

• MAN
• MAN, ISLE OF (anc. Mona)

man of the See also:

• WORLD

world than the inspirations of an See also:

• ORIGINAL

original poet . That they failed to attract See also:

• NOTICE

notice is not altogether to be regretted, for, as Valera himself confessed later in his See also:

• HALF

half-ironical, half-ingenuous See also:

• PREFACE (Med. Lat. prefatia, for classical praefatio, praefari, to speak beforehand)

preface to the second edition (1885), " In spite of my idleness, I should have shown a most deplorable fecundity had I been received with favour and See also:

• APPLAUSE (Lat. applaudere, to strike upon, clap)

applause." However, if he published little more in the shape of See also:

• VERSE (from Lat. versus, literally a line or furrow drawn by turning the plough, from vertere, and afterwards signifying an arrangement of syllables into feet)

verse, he wrote incessantly in See also:

• PROSE

prose . More than two-thirds of his See also:

• WORK

work is still uncollected, buried in reviews and See also:

• NEWSPAPERS

newspapers; but we may take it that he rescued what he thought most valuable . His See also:

• CRITICISM
• CRITICISM (from the Gr. KpiTrlS, a judge, Kpivew, to decide, to give an authoritative opinion)

criticism may be read in the Estudios criticos sobre literatura (1864), in the Disertaciones y juicios literarios (1878) and in the Nuevos estudios criticos (1888); yet, with all his penetration and See also:

• TASTE (from Lat. taxare, to touch sharply; tangere, to touch)

taste, Valera laboured under one disadvantage not frequent in critics . He suffered from an excessive amiability . He said a See also:

• HUNDRED

hundred incisive, See also:

• WISE, HENRY ALEXANDER (1806-1876)
• WISE, ISAAC MAYER (1819-1900)

wise, witty, subtle and suggestive things concerning the See also:

• MYSTICISM (from Or. µuety, to shut the eyes; µuorrts, one initiated into the mysteries)

mysticism of St See also:

• THERESA, ST (1515-1582)

Theresa, the See also:

• ART

art of novel-See also:

• WRITING
• WRITING (the verbal noun of " to write," O. Eng. writan, to inscribe)

writing, See also:

• FAUST, or FAUSTUS

Faust, the See also:

• INQUISITION, THE (Lat. inquisitio, an inquiry)

Inquisition, See also:

• DON
• DON (anc. Tanais)

Don Quixote, See also:

• SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM (1564-1616)

Shakespeare, the See also:

• PSYCHOLOGY
• PSYCHOLOGY (>Guxrl, the mind or soul, and X yos, theory)

psychology of love in literature; but, to do himself See also:

• JUSTICE (Lat. justitia)

justice, it was an almost indispensable See also:

• CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition that he should See also:

• DEAL

deal with the past . In the presence of a living author Valera was disarmed . Unless the writer were an incurable pessimist, Valera would find something in his work to praise, exhausting the vocabulary of compliment and graceful See also:

• TRIBUTE (Lat. tributurn, a stated payment, contribution)

tribute; but, except in the Cartas americanas (1889), where the laudation was manifestly so exaggerated that no harm could come of it, this See also:

• TRICK

trick of eulogy became perplexing and misleading .

Valera, in effect, refused to criticize contemporary literature; as a See also:

• RIVAL

rival author it seemed to him an indelicacy to censure his competitors, and he was either laudatory or silent . It is regrettable, for criticism was and is greatly needed in See also:

• SPAIN
• SPAIN (Espana)

Spain . Valera, then, excelled neither as a poet nor as an impartial critic; he had the vocation of the novelist, though he was slow in discovering it, since he was in his fiftieth See also:

• YEAR

year before he published the novel which was to make him famous . Pepita Spanish See also:

• EMBASSY

embassy at See also:

• NAPLES
• NAPLES (Ital. Napoli, and Lat. Neapolis)
• NAPLES, KINGDOM OF

Naples under the famous See also:

• DUKE (corresponding to Fr. duc, Ital. duca, Ger. Herzog)

Duke de Rivas, the See also:

• LEADER, BENJAMIN WILLIAMS (1831– )

leader of the romantic See also:

• MOVEMENT

movement in Spain . Valera witnessed the events of the Revolution, was promoted second secretary to the embassy at See also:

• LISBON (Lisboa)

Lisbon in 185o, and in 1851 was transferred as first secretary to Rio de Janeiro, where he remained for two years . After a See also:

• SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short See also:

• PERIOD
• PERIOD (Gr. irepioSos, a going or way round, circuit, aepi, round, and &Sis, way, road)

period passed at See also:

• DRESDEN

Dresden, he was appointed to the permanent See also:

• STAFF (O. Eng. staef, cf. Du. staf, Ger. Stab, &c.; Icel. stafr meant also a written letter, and O. Eng. stafas, the letters of the alphabet; " stave," one of the thin pieces of wood of which a cask is made, is a doublet)

staff of the See also:

• FOREIGN

Foreign See also:

• OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

Office at See also:

• MADRID

Madrid, and in 1857 was attached to the See also:

• SPECIAL

special embassy to St See also:

• PETERSBURG

Petersburg under the Duke de See also:

• OSUNA
• OSUNA, PEDRO TELLEZ GIRON

Osuna . In 1858 he resigned his See also:

• POST

post, was elected See also:

• DEPUTY (through the Fr. from a Late Lat. use of deputare, to cut off, allot; putare having the original sense of to trim, prune)

deputy for Archidona, in the See also:

• PROVINCE
• PROVINCE (Lat. provincia; perhaps a contraction of providentia)

province of Malaga, took his seat with the advanced Liberal Opposition, and joined with Albareda and Fabie in See also:

• FOUNDING (from Lat. fundere, to pour)

founding El Contempordneo, a very influential See also:

• JOURNAL
• JOURNAL (through Fr. from late Lat. diurnalis, daily)

journal . An See also:

• EXPERT (Lat. expertus, from experiri, to try)

expert in the art of covering an opponent with polite ridicule, his writings in the See also:

• PRESS (through Fr. presse from Lat. pressare, frequentative of premere, to crush, squeeze, press)

press attracted general See also:

• ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention . He was elected a member of the Spanish See also:

• ACADEMY, GREEK
• ACADEMY, ROYAL

Academy in 1861, and remained in Opposition till 1865, when O'Donnell appointed him See also:

• MINISTER (Lat. minister, servant)

minister at See also:

• FRANKFORT

Frankfort; on the See also:

• FLIGHT

flight of See also:

• ISABELLA (1451-15o4)
• ISABELLA, ISABEAU

Isabella II. in 1868 he was elected deputy for See also:

• MONTILLA

Montilla in the province of Cordova, became under-secretary of See also:

• STATE
• STATE, GREAT OFFICERS OF

state for foreign affairs, and was one of the deputation who offered the See also:

• CROWN

crown to Amadeus of See also:

• SAVOY, HOUSE
• SAVOY, HOUSE OF

Savoy in the Pitti See also:

• PALACE (Lat. Palatium, the name given by Augustus to his residence on the Palatine Hill)

Palace at See also:

• FLORENCE
• FLORENCE (Ital. Firenze, Lat. Florentia)

Florence . Though he always called himself a Moderate Liberal, Valera invariably voted for what are considered See also:

• RADICAL (Lat. radix, a root)

Radical See also:

• MEASURES

measures in Spain, and a speech delivered by him in See also:

• FEBRUARY

February 1863 against the temporal See also:

• POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power of the See also:

• POPE (Gr. irarraas, post-classical Lat. papa, father)
• POPE, ALEXANDER (1688–1744)
• POPE, ALEXANDER (1763-1835)
• POPE, JANE (1742-1818)
• POPE, JOHN (1822-1892)
• POPE, SIR THOMAS (c. 1507-1559)

pope created a profound sensation . However, though a member of the revolutionary party, he steadily opposed organic constitutional changes, and therefore he retired from public See also:

• LIFE

life during the period of republican See also:

• GOVERNMENT
• GOVERNMENT (0. Fr. governement, mod. gouvernement, O. Fr. governer, mod. gouverner, from Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, guide, rule; cf. Gr. xv(3epvav)

government . After the See also:

• BOURBON
• BOURBON, CHARLES, DUKE OF (149o-1527)

Bourbon restoration he acted as minister at Lisbon (1881-1883), at See also:

• WASHINGTON
• WASHINGTON (or WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE)
• WASHINGTON, BOOKER TALIAFERRO (c. 1859– )
• WASHINGTON, BUSHROD (1762-1829)
• WASHINGTON, GEORGE (1732-1799)

Washington (1885), at See also:

• BRUSSELS (Fr. Bruxelles, Flem. Brussel)

Brussels (1886) and as See also:

• AMBASSADOR (also EMBASSADOR, the form sometimes still used in America; from the Fr. ambassadeur, with which compare Ital. ambasciatore and Span. embajador, all variants of the Med. Lat. ambassiator, ambassiator, ambasator, &c., derived from Med. Lat. amba

ambassador at See also:

• VIENNA (Ger. Wien; Lat. Vindobona)
• VIENNA, CONGRESS OF (1814-1815)

Vienna (1893-1895), retiring from the See also:

• DIPLOMATIC

diplomatic service on the 5th of See also:

• MARCH
• MARCH (1) (from Fr. marcher, to walk; the earliest sense in French appears to be " to trample," and the origin has usually been found in the Lat. marcus, hammer; Low Lat. marcare, to hammer; hence to beat the road with the regular tread of a soldier: cf.
• MARCH, AUZIAS (c. "1395-1458)
• MARCH, EARLS OF
• MARCH, FRANCIS ANDREW (1825– )

March 1896 .

During the last ten years of his life he took no active See also:

• PART

part in politics . He Jimenez (1874) is a See also:

• RECITAL (from Lat. recitare, to read out, particularly of a public document)

recital of the fall of Luis de Vargas, a seminarist who conceived himself to be a mystic and a potential See also:

• SAINT (lat. sanctus, " holy ")

saint, and whose aspirations dissolve at the first contact with reality . It is easy to point out blemishes: the See also:

• STORY, JOHN (c. 1510-1571)
• STORY, JOSEPH (1779-1845)
• STORY, ROBERT HERBERT (1835-1907)
• STORY, WILLIAM WETMORE (1819—1895)

story is not well constructed, and it has pauses during which the. writer's fantasy plays at See also:

• PLEASURE (through Fr. plaisir from Lat. placere, to please; Gr. rlbovii)

pleasure over a hundred subjects not very germane to the See also:

• MATTER

matter; but its characters are as real as any in fiction, the love story is told with the most refined subtlety and malicious truth, while See also:

• PAGE
• PAGE, THOMAS NELSON (1853- )
• PAGE, WILLIAM (1811-1885)

page upon page is written in such Spanish as would do See also:

• CREDIT (Lat. credere, to believe)

credit to the best writers of the 16th and 17th centuries . Unquestionably Pepita Jimenez is a very remarkable achievement--so remarkable, that contemporaries were reluctant to admit the superiority of its successors . It is certain that Valera's second novel, See also:

• LAS

Las ilusiones del See also:

• DOCTOR (Lat. for " teacher ")

Doctor Faustino (1875), was received with marked disfavour, and that it has the faults of over-refinement and of See also:

• CRUELTY (through the O. Fr. crualte, mod. cruaute, from the Lat. crudelitas)

cruelty; yet in keen See also:

• ANALYSIS (Gr. avci and Meta, to break up into parts)

analysis and in See also:

• HUMOUR (Latin humor)

humour it surpasses Pepita Jimenez . The Comendador See also:

• MENDOZA
• MENDOZA, ANTONIO HURTADO DE (1593?-1644)
• MENDOZA, DIEGO HURTADO DE (1503-1575)
• MENDOZA, PEDRO GONZALEZ DE (1428-1495)

Mendoza (1877) is more pathetic and of a profounder significance; and if Dona Luz (1879) repeats the situation and the general See also:

• IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea already used in Pepita Jimenez, it strikes a deeper and more tragic See also:

• NOTE
• NOTE (Lat. nota, mark, sign, from noscere, to know)

note, which came as a surprise to those See also:

• FAMILIAR (through the Fr. familier, from Lat. familiaris, of or belonging to the familia, family)

familiar only with the lighter See also:

• SIDE
• SIDE (mod. Eski Adalia)

side of Valera's , See also:

• GENIUS (from Lat. genere, gignere)

genius . Besides these elaborate psychological studies, Valera issued a See also:

• VOLUME

volume of Cuentos (1887), some of these short tales and dialogues being marvels of art and of insight . Thenceforward he was silent for eight years, but after his retirement from politics he published several See also:

• GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good books—El hechicero (1895), Juanita la larga (1896), Genio y figura (1897), De varios Mores' (1898) and Morsamor (1899) . These are not all of equal excellence, but they are characteristic of their author, and abound in understanding, humorous comment and sympathetic creation . At the See also:

• CLOSE
• CLOSE (from Lat. clausum, shut)
• CLOSE, MAXWELL HENRY (1822-1903)

close of the 19th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century Valera was recognized as the most eminent man of letters in Spain . He had not See also:

• PEREDA, JOSE MARIA DE (1833—1906)

Pereda's force nor his energetic See also:

• REALISM (from Low Lat. realis, appertaining to res, things, as opposed to ideas and imaginations)

realism; he had not the copious invention nor the reforming purpose of See also:

• PEREZ, ANTONIO (c. 1540-1611)

Perez GaldSs; yet he was as realistic as the former and as innovating as the latter . And, for all his See also:

• COSMOPOLITAN (Gr. Kbvµos, world, and IroXirgs, citizen)

cosmopolitan spirit, he fortunately remained in-tensely and incorrigibly Spanish .

His aristocratic See also:

• SCEPTICISM (o-Kesrroµai, I consider, reflect, hesitate, doubt)

scepticism, his See also:

• STRANGE, SIR ROBERT (1721-1792)

strange elusiveness, his incomparable See also:

• CHARM (through the Fr. from the Lat. carmen, a song)

charm are his own: his humour, his flashing See also:

• IRONY (Gr. dipaweLa, from eipwv, one who says less than he means, eiepees, to speak)

irony, his urbanity are eminently the gifts of his See also:

• LAND

land and See also:

• RACE

race . He is by no means an impersonal artist; in almost every story there is at least one See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character who talks and thinks and subtilizes and refines as Valera himself wrote in his most brilliant essays . This may be a See also:

• FAULT (Mid. Eng. faute, through the French, from the popular Latin use of fallere, to fail; the originallof the Latin being replaced in English in the 15th century)

fault in art; but, if so, it is a fault which many See also:

• GREAT

great artists have committed, from Cervantes to See also:

• THACKERAY, WILLIAM MAKEPEACE (1811-1863)

Thackeray . It is dangerous to See also:

• ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt a forecast of Valera's final See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place in See also:

• LITERARY

literary See also:

• HISTORY

history, yet it seems safe to say that, though his poems and essays will be forgotten, Pepita Jimenez and Dona Luz will survive changes of See also:

• FASHION (adapted from Fr. facon, agon, Lat. factio, making, facere, to do or make)

fashion and of taste, and that their author's name will be inseparably connected with the See also:

• RENAISSANCE, THE

renaissance of the See also:

• MODERN

modern Spanish novel . (J .