Certificate of Price

I, Hernando de Vallejo, clerk of the Chamber of the King our lord, one of those who sit in his Council, attest that, the lords of the Council having seen a book composed by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, entitled Don Quixote of La Mancha, Second Part, which was printed with His Majesty’s license, they assessed it at four maravedís a sheet in loose sheets; and the book has seventy-three sheets, which at that rate adds up and amounts to two hundred and ninety-two maravedís; and they ordered that this assessment be placed at the beginning of each volume of the said book, so that it may be known and understood what is to be asked and charged for it, without exceeding it in any way, as is set down and appears in the original writ and decree issued on the matter, which remains in my keeping and to which I refer; and by order of the said lords of the Council and at the request of the said Miguel de Cervantes, I gave this attestation in Madrid, on the twenty-first day of the month of October, in the year one thousand six hundred and fifteen.

Hernando de Vallejo.