Dedication

TO THE DUKE OF BÉJAR,

marquis of Gibraleón, count of Benalcázar and Bañares, viscount of La Puebla de Alcocer, lord of the towns of Capilla, Curiel, and Burguillos

Trusting in the kind reception and honor that Your Excellency gives to every sort of book, as a prince so inclined to favor the fine arts, above all those which by their nobility do not stoop to the service and gain of the common crowd, I have resolved to bring to light The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha under the shelter of Your Excellency’s most illustrious name, and with the reverence I owe to such greatness I beg Your Excellency to receive it graciously under your protection, so that in its shade, though stripped of that precious ornament of elegance and erudition in which the works composed in the houses of learned men usually go dressed, it may dare to appear in safety before the judgment of certain people who, not keeping within the bounds of their ignorance, are apt to condemn the labors of others with more severity and less justice; for if Your Excellency’s wisdom fixes its eyes on my good will, I trust that you will not disdain the meagerness of so humble a service.

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.