DEDICATION OF VOLUME I

by Miguel de Cervantes

　　TO THE DUKE OF BEJAR, MARQUIS OF GIBRALEON, COUNT OF BENALCAZAR ANDBANARES, VICECOUNT OF THE PUEBLA DE ALCOCER, MASTER OF THE TOWNS OFCAPILLA, CURIEL AND BURGUILLOSIn belief of the good reception and honours that Your Excellency bestowson all sort of books, as prince so inclined to favor good arts, chieflythose who by their nobleness do not submit to the service and bribery ofthe vulgar, I have determined bringing to light The Ingenious GentlemanDon Quixote of la Mancha, in shelter of Your Excellency's glamorous name,to whom, with the obeisance I owe to such grandeur, I pray to receive itagreeably under his protection, so that in this shadow, though deprivedof that precious ornament of elegance and erudition that clothe the workscomposed in the houses of those who know, it dares appear with assurancein the judgment of some who, trespassing the bounds of their ownignorance, use to condemn with more rigour and less justice the writingsof others. It is my earnest hope that Your Excellency's good counsel inregard to my honourable purpose, will not disdain the littleness of sohumble a service.Miguel de Cervantes