Manuscript Diversity, Meaning, and Variance in Juan Manuel’s El Conde Lucanor

Juan Manuel's __El Conde Lucanor__ was arguably one of the great masterworks of early modern Spain. Although the work appears in five very different manuscript versions from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, most modern editions of El Conde Lucanor have neglected to account for the fact that it was part of a manuscript tradition, and that its meaning is substantially affected when its original forms are not taken in to account. With __Manuscript Diversity, Meaning, and Variance in Juan Manuel's El Conde Lucanor__, Laurence de Looze demonstrates how the meaning of Juan Manuel's work changes depending on how the work is 'performed' in particular manuscripts. This study proceeds from the assumption that, in a pre-printing press world, each new copy or 'performance' of a work creates new meaning. By adopting this approach and by focusing on Parts II-V of the texts, de Looze argues that __El Conde Lucanor__ raises questions about the interretation, intelligibility, and the production of knowledge. De Looze's complex and nuanced reading sheds new light on an important work and makes a significant contribution to medieval studies, Spanish studies, and the history of the book.