In the first volume of this series N.D. Shergold and J.E. Varey edited legajo 666 of the Sección Administrativa of the Archivo General de Palacio. Edited here are the papers from legajo667, as well as others related to court theatre of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. These documents reveal in detail - particularly for the performance of Calderón's Fieras afemina amor in 1673 -the sumptuous staging of such works, with a wealth of details on costume. Others focus on the ceremony and protocol of the performances. Most are from the last years of Philip IV and Charles II, but there is also documentation on the first decade of the eighteenth century, showing the influence of Italian theatre on the Spanish court.
MARGARET RICH GREERis Professor of Spanish at Duke University.