ABSTRACT
A work by Juan Ferreras in sixteen volumes, Sinopsis histrica cronologica de Espana , translated into French by d'Hermilly, had in part supplanted Mariana's history, far better as an example of literary art. The Augustinian monk Enrique Florez erected a vast monument of solid erudition in his Espana sagrada, the complete title of which indicates clearly its scope and contents: Teatro geografico-historico de la Iglesia de Espana. P. Manuel de Larramendi was one of the first to devote himself to the study of the Basque language, which has since then crazed so many brains. A frequent activity toward the end of the century was the publication of manuscript literary texts and the formation of anthologies. Doctor Diego de Torres Villarroel whose life itself was a veritable picaresque romance, left fifteen volumes of Obras. In prose likewise he wrote two "poems," El Antenor and Rodrigo. But only the inquisitive would think of exhuming this dead literature, purely documentary in value.
