Greatest Works of Miguel de Cervantes: The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha & The Exemplary Novels

by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Gustave Doré (Illustrator)

• This book contains illustrations of Gustave Doré.

No DRM (mobi)

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra(1547–1616) was a Spanish novelist, born in Alcalá de Henares, a Castilian city. Miguel's father Rodrigo was a barber-surgeon of Galician descent and his mother, Leonor de Cortinas, was a native of Arganda del Rey and the third daughter of a nobleman. His "Don Quixote", is considered the first modern novel, and one of the best fictions ever written. The Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky called it "the ultimate and most sublime work of human thinking". During the last years of his life, Cervantes solidified his reputation as a great writer, after the publishing of the "Novelas Ejemplares" (Exemplary Novels). This collection contains the two volumes of "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha" (illustrated by Gustave Doré), and "The Exemplary Novels".

Review, design and indexing by Century eBooks

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Literature

1423 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1615

About the author

Miguel de Cervantes y Cortinas, later Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His novel Don Quixote is often considered his magnum opus, as well as the first modern novel.

It is assumed that Miguel de Cervantes was born in Alcalá de Henares. His father was Rodrigo de Cervantes, a surgeon of cordoban descent. Little is known of his mother Leonor de Cortinas, except that she was a native of Arganda del Rey.

In 1569, Cervantes moved to Italy, where he served as a valet to Giulio Acquaviva, a wealthy priest who was elevated to cardinal the next year. By then, Cervantes had enlisted as a soldier in a Spanish Navy infantry regiment and continued his military life until 1575, when he was captured by Algerian corsairs. He was then released on ransom from his captors by his parents and the Trinitarians, a Catholic religious order.

He subsequently returned to his family in Madrid.
In Esquivias (Province of Toledo), on 12 December 1584, he married the much younger Catalina de Salazar y Palacios (Toledo, Esquivias –, 31 October 1626), daughter of Fernando de Salazar y Vozmediano and Catalina de Palacios. Her uncle Alonso de Quesada y Salazar is said to have inspired the character of Don Quixote. During the next 20 years Cervantes led a nomadic existence, working as a purchasing agent for the Spanish Armada and as a tax collector. He suffered a bankruptcy and was imprisoned at least twice (1597 and 1602) for irregularities in his accounts. Between 1596 and 1600, he lived primarily in Seville. In 1606, Cervantes settled in Madrid, where he remained for the rest of his life.
Cervantes died in Madrid on April 23, 1616.
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