It therefore affords me great pleasure to be able to announce that the Hispanic Society of New York has in its possession a complete copy of the edition of 1497. It is gilt edged and is bound in leather of a yellowish, almost brown, color. Its back is decorated with gilded lines and bears the title _Roman del Cavaller_ | _Tirant Blanc_ | Barcelona | 1497. The title page is missing, but at the end of the book a fragment of paper bearing the words “Tirant lo Blanch” in large letters is pasted on a flyleaf. This fragment is probably a part of the title page. The edges of several pages at the beginning and at the close of the book had been torn, but they have been neatly mended. A considerable number of pages are somewhat soiled, but all are easily legible. The facsimile reproduction of a page of the fragments in Barcelona, which Givanel Mas has inserted in his work, coincides exactly with the corresponding page of the book in the library of the Hispanic Society. This author has also set forth other interesting details concerning the edition of 1497.[6] The colophon of the edition reads:
A honor y gloria d’nostre senyor deu Jeusucrist: fon principiat a stampar lo present libre per mestre Pere miquel condam y es acabat per Diego de gumiel castella en la molt noble e insigne ciutat de Barcelona a .xvi. de Setembre d’l any .M. CCCC. XCVII.[7]
[7] To the honor and glory of our Lord God, Jesus Christ: the printing of this book was begun by Master Pere Miquel Condam and is completed by Diego de Gumiel, a Castilian, in the most noble and excellent city of Barcelona on the sixteenth day of September of the year 1497.
In 1873 Don Mariano Aguiló y Fuster of Barcelona began the publication of a new edition, but it was not completed until 1905. In this edition the work is divided into four volumes.[8]
[8] For further information concerning this edition, see Juan Givanel Mas, _op. cit._, pp. 43-58.
A Spanish translation of _Tirant lo Blanch_ was published in Valladolid, in 1511.[9] The name of the translator is not known. The eminent Catalan book-lover and scholar, Don Isidro Bonsoms y Sicart, of Barcelona, has a copy of it in his library. We have no information in regard to the existence of any other copy. An Italian translation was made by Lelio Manfredi and published in Venice, in 1538.[10] A French translation by the Comte de Caylus was published about 1737; London is given as the place of publication, but this is probably incorrect.[11]