Catalogue of Medieval Works Printed in Castilian (COMEDIC)
The main purpose of this Catalogue is to compile a database of medieval works printed in Castilian from the last decades of the 15th century to the end of the 16th century, to facilitate their study from a literary perspective. The catalogue encompasses both works originally written in Castilian and translated works, as long as they meet two requirements: a) in terms of creation, they must have been written or translated into Castilian before 1500, and b) in terms of dissemination, there must be a copy printed prior to 1600. The only exceptions to this time limit are works by authors born before 1500 whose production straddles the two centuries, such as Juan del Encina or Rodrigo de Reinosa.
In terms of content, only works of so-called “grey literature” (laws, ordinances, synodal constitutions, etc.) are excluded, although the first phase will focus primarily on literary texts, leaving religious and moral works for a second phase. Both printed works produced in Spanish workshops and those from other European countries—mainly Portugal, France, Italy and the Netherlands—are included. Each record corresponds to one work, detailing the author’s name and its variants, the second author’s name—glossator, prologue writer, etc.—and the patron or dedicatee’s name. Also indicated are the title of the original work (if it is a translation), title variants provided by different witnesses, approximate dates of composition or translation, and the subject or subjects to which it can be ascribed according to its contents. Links to digitised copies are also provided, but typobibliographical descriptions are kept brief, with references to more specialised repertories.
While the main focus is not on manuscript witnesses, a list including them is provided, mainly based on the data offered in Philobiblon. The database has a multidisciplinary approach, as it also examines illustrations and images and their reception, as well as the paratextual elements accompanying the editions. COMEDIC aims to become a useful tool for future studies in several areas concerning the dissemination of books and culture by enabling research on topics such as the dedicatees of printed works, evidence of readership through inventories, wills, etc., the transformation of texts over time, and publishers’ preferences for some genres and subjects over other.
This catalogue has been developed in collaboration with several institutions, including the Biblioteca Nacional de España, the Biblioteca de la Universidad de Zaragoza, the CRAI Biblioteca de Fondo Antiguo de la Universidad de Barcelona and the Gobierno de Aragón.
How to cite Comedic:
Comedic: Catálogo de obras medievales impresas en castellano hasta 1600 [online].<http://grupoclarisel.unizar.es/comedic/> [date of access]