Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1136

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

1.4 linear feet (2 boxes)

Language:

Spanish; Castilian

Preferred Citation:

Miguel Romera-Navarro collection of photocopied Spanish manuscripts, circa 1950s, Ms. Coll. 1136, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

circa 1950s (inclusive)

Creator:

Romera-Navarro, Miguel

Form:

Spanish literature and Reprographic copies

Abstract:

Miguel Romera-Navarro (1888-1954) was a professor and a scholar of Spanish language and literature. This collection consists of photocopies of manuscripts by three Spanish authors: Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681), Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas (1580-1645), Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (1562-1635). The photocopied manuscripts were probably used by Miguel Romera-Navarro in his studies and to write his own books.

Miguel Romera-Navarro was a professor and a scholar of Spanish language and literature. Romera-Navarro was born in Spain in 1888 and earned his early degrees at the the universities of Granada and Madrid. While in Spain, from 1909 to 1910, he served the Ateneo de Madrid as secretary of the Sección de Ciencias Morales y Políticas.

Navarro relocated to the United States in 1912, working in New York for The Delineator. In 1916, he was appointed as Instructor in Spanish at the University of Pennsylvania. He continued his own education at Penn, earning his M.A. in 1921, and his Ph.D. in 1927. In 1928, he was made full professor; a position he held until 1947 when he accepted a chair of Spanish at the University of Texas.

According to a notice of his death, "Professor Romera-Navarro was an inspiring teacher, able to communicate to his students both his keen interest in literary studies and his own personal sense of their value and their dignity," (Hispanic Review, page 307). In addition to his teaching, Romera-Navarro served as a representative of the United States Committee on Public Information from 1918 to 1919; was active in the founding and editing of the Hispanic Review; and founded and edited the University of Texas Hispanic Studies. He was also a prolific writer, authoring many journalistic articles on a wide variety of subjects, textbooks, and scholarly studies on classical Spanish literature.

Romera-Navarro married Victoria De Avila and had three daughters, Helen, Maria, and Carmen. He died in Austin, Texas, on May 3, 1954.

Works cited:

"Miguel Romera-Navarro (1888-1954)." Hispanic Review, Vol. 22, No. 4 (Oct., 1954), pp. 306-308.

This collection consists of photocopies of manuscripts by three Spanish authors: Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681), Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas (1580-1645), Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (1562-1635). The photocopied manuscripts were probably used by Miguel Romera-Navarro in his studies and to write his own books, in particular La preceptive dramática de Lope de Vega y otros ensayos sobre el Fénix. The copies were made from originals held by the Biblioteca Nacional (Madrid) and the British Museum, probably in the 1950s. Each page of the photocopy is glued on to a piece of lined notebook papers, presumably by Romera-Navarro.

The collection is arranged in three series, each named for the author of the manuscripts contained therein, and manuscripts are arranged alphabetically within each series.