{Ed.Note: The original and main article is on the 2012 edition of Dialogue of the Dogs from The Foolscap Press. As of 8/17/2012, thanks to Books and Vines contributor DlphcOracl, pictures of the classic 1969 edition from The L&D Allen Press are now also included at the bottom of the post.}

Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) is best known for his Don Quixote, generally considered the first modern European novel and one of the greatest works of literature in history. Cervantes also wrote a couple other novels, as well as many plays and poems. Among the most noteworthy of his ‘other’ writings is a collection of short stories titled Exemplary Novels which was published in the years between the first and second parts of Don Quixote.  What ties the stories throughout Exemplary Novels together is the highlighting of Spanish life in the time of Cervantes, with social, cultural, historical and political undercurrents woven throughout. Dialogue of the Dogs (El coloquio de los perros) is one of the more popular tales from this collection. In Dialogue of the Dogs, Cervantes uses cynical observations of society to provide truthful insight into the human character with occasional humor to delight the reader.

Two dogs, Cipión and Berganza, find themselves one evening with the ability to speak. They do not know how long they will have this gift, so attempt to make the most  of it. Berganza has had an eventful life, having lived with many owners, in both the countryside and in town. As a result, he has much to say. In doing so, he philosophizes, gets side-tracked telling stories and gossips. Cipion, tries to keep him on track: 

For gossip is not a good thing if it kills one person, even though it makes many laugh. And if you can please without it, I shall consider you very wise.

None-the-less, there is no stopping the wandering mind of Berganza. Here, in telling a story where the shepherds secretly kill some sheep under their watch for food, he ponders what many still wonder about governments they live under:

Who has the power to make it known that the defenders are the offenders, that the sentinels sleep, that the trusted steal and those who should protect kill?

Berganza then talks about how to use humility to get ahead in life, in a wise discourse about how to win friends and influence people.

…humility is the foundation and cornerstone of all the virtues, and without it none of the others exist. It surmounts obstacles, conquers difficulties, and is a path that always leads to glorious ends. It makes friends of enemies; turns aside wrath, abates the arrogance of the proud; it is the mother of modesty and the sister of temperance. In short, over it vice can win no lasting triumph, for against its gentleness and meekness the arrows of sin full blunted and deflected.

Next, Berganza laments the difficulties involved in going back to a life of deprivation after having tasted life without it.

…when misery and misfortunes are of long and continuous duration, or come to a quick end through death, or their persistence develops the habit and custom of suffering them, however bad, one can endure them. But when from a distressful and calamitous state, without thinking or expecting it, one passes to another of well-being, contentment, and happiness, and then, after a little while, returns to that first state and the earlier trials and misadventures, the suffering is so keen that if it does not put an end to life it makes the torment of living worse then death.

Humorously, Berganza and Cipion have a colloquy about those who speak Latin, complaining of those who do not know Latin (“can hardly decline a noun or conjugate a verb”) yet throw Latin phrases into their conversation to imply what great scholars they are, and equally of those who really do know Latin, but do not have the good sense to not use it in front of those who do not. Cipion closes with:

You might also take note of something else, and that is that there are those who, although they know Latin, are still asses.

Berganza answers:

Who doubts that? The reason for this is apparent. When in the times of the Romans everybody talked Latin as their native tongue, there must have been numskulls among them who knowing Latin did not keep them from being fools.

That conversation really sums up the undercurrent of humor throughout the dialogue. Berganza comes back to a more serious thought, which probably will resonate with anyone who has had a string of ‘bad luck’, saying:

…misfortune will pursue the unfortunate and hem him in, though he hide himself in the remotest corner of the earth.

Speaking of commentary that will resonate with many, does anyone doubt the timeless truth in this statement by Berganza:

At one moment a person promises to correct his vices, and the next he falls into other worse ones. It is one thing to praise discipline, and another to carry it out, and it’s a long way from the word to the deed.

For being a short story, there are a number of other nuggets of wisdom sprinkled through, such as Berganza saying “planned vengeance indicates cruelty and cowardice” and when Cipion closes the story with:

Virtue and good sense are always one and the same, naked or clothed, alone or accompanied. To be sure, they may suffer in the opinion of the world, but not in the true reality of what they are worth and deserve.

About the Foolscap Press Edition

This newest release from Foolscap Press is marvelous and certainly unique. The cover looks and fells like a short-haired dog, being one of the more clever and apropos bindings I have seen. The diorama’s are contextually fascinating, providing a 3D visual that nicely encapsulates the setting. Best of all, just look at the presswork below — the type and letterpress work is fantastic. I very much enjoyed the story and the experience of reading it in this specific edition. This is a case where the presentation marries well with the story, each elevating the other.

{Ed. Note: For questions on the book or to order, contact Lawrence G. Van Velzer and Peggy Gotthold at Foolscap Press here. Also, you may want to look at the Books and Vines review of Foolscap’s wonderful Phisicke Against Fortune.}

• Design, printing and binding done by Lawrence G. Van Velzer and Peggy Gotthold at Foolscap Press
• The animal like embossing that makes up the cover is made from a rayon flock on latex impregnated paper
• Full-page scenes set in a three-dimensional diorama in the front and back covers of the book, designed and illustrated by Peggy Gotthold, create a box-like structure around the text
• Within the text are drawings by Peggy Gotthold
• Translated by Harriet de Onis (1899-1969)
• Set in Dante and Pepita types
• Printed letterpress on Magnano Revere paper and hand-bound at the press
• Laser cutting was done by John & Susie Bower
• 9 1/4″ x 11 1/2″, 52 pages
• $575, 20% subscriber discount ($460)
• Edition is limited to 100 copies (90 for sale),  mine is #5

Pictures of the Foolscap Press Edition

(All pictures on Books and Vines are exclusively provided to highlight and visualize the work being reviewed.  A side benefit, hopefully, is encouraging healthy sales of fine press books for the publishers and fine retailers that specialize in these types of books (of which Books and Vines has no stake or financial interest). Please note that works photographed are copyrighted by the publisher, author and/or illustrator as indicated in the articles. Permission to use contents from these works for anything outside of fair use purposes must come directly from the copyright owner and no permission is granted or implied to use photo’s found on Books and Vines for any purpose that would infringe on the rights of the copyright owner.)

About the L&D Allen Press Edition

• Designed, printed and bound by Lewis & Dorothy Allen at The Allen Press, Kentfield, California
• Translation based on that by Walter Kelly
• Type face is Goudy Thirty, hand-set
• All-rag paper was made by hand at the Wookey Hole mill in England, including a watermark of The Allen Press
• The paper was printed damp on an 1846 Columbian handpress
• The decorative initials for the columns are late fifteenth century; the other ornaments were engraved by Mallette Dean
• The hand-printed cloth for the binding is the Spanish design ‘El Prado’, from the Costa del Sol Collection, made in Europe

Pictures of the L&D Allen Press Edition

(All pictures on Books and Vines are exclusively provided to highlight and visualize the work being reviewed.  A side benefit, hopefully, is encouraging healthy sales of fine press books for the publishers and fine retailers that specialize in these types of books (of which Books and Vines has no stake or financial interest). Please note that works photographed are copyrighted by the publisher, author and/or illustrator as indicated in the articles. Permission to use contents from these works for anything outside of fair use purposes must come directly from the copyright owner and no permission is granted or implied to use photo’s found on Books and Vines for any purpose that would infringe on the rights of the copyright owner.)