Juan de Vera Tassis, editor de Calderón: el caso de Amar después de la muerte

Abstract

For centuries, Juan de Vera Tassis y Villarroel’s posthumous edition of Calderón’s comedias have formed the basis for later editions. However, over the last 80 years, Vera Tassis has been severely criticized and accused of «censuring», «manipulting» and even «mutilating» the texts. This study aims at reevaluating his work. His edition of Amar después de la muerte (1691) has been compared minutely with the only version of the play published in the author’s life —but without his pemission—, titled El Tuzaní de la Alpujarra (1677). The results show with almost absolute certainty that Vera Tassis worked from a manuscript which was much more trustworthy than the 1677 edition. This suggests he may have done the same in other cases, which would mean his editions are more reliable than is usually assumed.