THE "CENSURA" AGAINST MOROVELLI: TEXTUAL RESOURCES AND AUTHORSHIP

Fernandez-Guerra (1852-1859) included among the works of Quevedo the Censura contra Morovelli, a short work dated 1628 and related to the controversy about the Patronage of Santiago. The invective has received little critical attention, focused exclusively on its problematic and still doubtful attribution, to Quevedo and Juan de Robles successively. The publisher of Quevedo consulted three manuscripts, but the textual transmission, relevant to authorship, has never been studied. The twelve manuscripts found to date, some of them taken into account for the first time, are now described and analyzed. Dating back to the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, they allow the existence of two variant versions of the diatribe to be inferred. In addition, and also in relation to authorship, other issues are addressed: the pseudonym with which the work circulated is discussed, as well as third-person references to Quevedo in its text and expressive coincidences with Quevedo's literature. The article concludes with textual arguments favorable and contrary to Quevedo's authorship, and offers some plausible hypothesis about the reasons that could determine the attribution process.