From Ermolao Barbaro to Francisco López de Villalobos: Playing on the Reinvention of Plautus

Through the analysis of the incunable and postincunable editions of Plautus’ comedies, this paper establishes that Francisco López de Villalobos uses a 1497 Italian edition (even a 1495 one) as source text for his translation of Amphitruo. This paper also sustains that Villalobos translated Amphitruo into Spanish –at least an initial version of it– in Salamanca before August 1498. This hypothesis is supported by the analysis of Villalobos’ glosses, by his translation of verses (attributed to Italian humanist Ermolao Barbaro) that Villalobos inserted in the abovementioned edition Amphitruo, and by several characteristic features of the life and work of the Zamoran doctor. Therefore, the first translation into Spanish of a comedy by Plautus coincides in time and space with the production of the first printed version of La Celestina.