Portions of the following paper were read at the 26th annual Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, Lexington, Kentucky, April 26-28, 1973, in the section «The Narrative in Modern Spanish Literature». The research for this paper was conducted as part of a larger, on-going project on the sociology of the modern Spanish novel. The project has received financial support from the Research Foundation of the City University of New York and from the National Endowment for the Humanities, to whom the author is grateful.

See, e.g., Peter B. Goldman, «Galdós and the Politics of Conciliation», AG, IV (1969), 73-87; v 83, n. 1 for a list of the major works in which Galdós' essays are examined. William H. Shoemaker and Leo J. Hoar, Jr., are the two scholars who have dedicated themselves to collecting and analyzing the nonfiction. Galdosistas owe a debt of gratitude to these two indefatigable investigators, and also to José Schraibman who, through the years, has unearthed a good deal of the writer's correspondence. Professor Shoemaker has most recently edited and published Los artículos de Galdós en «La Nación» 1865, 1866, 1868 (Madrid: Ínsula, 1972) and Las cartas desconocidas de Galdós en «La Prensa» de Buenos Aires (Madrid: Ediciones de Cultura Hispánica, 1973), both excellent contributions. Professor Hoar's recent full-length edition, BPG y la Revista del Movimiento Intelectual de Europa, Madrid, 1865-1867 (Madrid: Ínsula, 1968), has been followed by a series of articles, of which the latest, «More on the Pre- (and Post-) History of the Episodios nacionales: Galdós' Article 'El Dos de Mayo' (1874)» AG, VIII (1973), 107-120, also discusses Galdós' use of his essay material for novels; Hoar's «Politics and Poetry: More Proof of Galdós' Work for Las Cortes», MLN, LXXXVIII (1973), 378-397, is useful In this context, providing additionally some bibliographical information (385-386 and n. 21).

This is a trend which has lately begun to change. One of the most eloquent and well-reasoned arguments in favor of the extra-literary approach is that of Rodolfo Cardona, «Nuevos enfoques críticos con referencia a la obra de Galdós», CHA, 250-252 (enero, 1971), 58-72. Geoffrey Ribbans, «Contemporary History in the Structure and Characterization of Fortunata y Jacinta», pp. 90-113 of J. E. Varey, ed., Galdós Studies (London: Tamesis, 1970), and Brian J. Dendle, «Galdós and the Death of Prim», AG, IV (1969), 63-71, are good examples of the productive possibilities inherent in an historical orientation. Other extra-literary methodologies and their possible value are also discussed by Professor Cardona, and additionally in Professor Varey's fine introduction to Galdós Studies, «Galdós in the Light of Recent Criticism», pp. 1-35. See also Peter B. Goldman, «Historical Perspective and Political Bias: Comments on Recent Galdós Criticism», AG, VI (1971), 113-124, esp. 122, n. 14.

This was the point made by Sherman Eoff, who declared in 1966 («Galdós in Nineteenth-Century Perspective», AG, I, 3-9) that the student of Galdós must also become a student of nineteenth century Spain. Carlos Blanco Aguinaga likewise observed in 1968: «We frankly think that it would be wiser to approach the problem of the absolute uniqueness of 'novelistic' lives by attending rigorously not only to their 'contrasting' relationships, but-among other things, and preferably as a starting point-by attending to the dialectical relationship existing between these lives and the world reflected in the work of fiction... [and] to the social reality from which is born the reality of realistic fiction. («On The Birth of Fortunata», AG, III, 13-24; for passage cited, 22.)

The answers to this question have been difficult to determine. Professor Varey, op. cit., esp. p. 16, noted that not even the extraordinary histories of Raymond Carr and C. A. M. Hennessy have enabled us to truly understand the «sociological, economic and ideological» intricacies of Spain's Restoration society (1875-1923). Hennessy, The Federal Republic in Spain (Oxford: CUP, 1962), deals of course only with the political machinations during the First Republic and the years immediately preceeding (1868-1874). Carr himself stated at the end of his monumental work, Spain, 1808-1939 (Oxford: CUP, 1966), p. 712, that there has been almost nothing produced concerning the development of Spanish society in the nineteenth century since Angel Marvaud's famous studies written in the early part of the twentieth century. The topics of urbanization and industrialization have lately attracted historians, although the lower classes in Madrid prior to 1900 are not given much attention in their work. Fernanda Romeu, Las clases trabajadoras en España (Madrid: Taurus, 1970) and Manuel Tuñón de Lara, El movimiento obrero en la historia de España (Madrid: Taurus, 1972) are both fundamental for an understanding of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Bibliographical information on recent contributions may be found in Juan J. Linz, «Five Centuries of Spanish History: Quantification and Comparison», pp. 177-261 of Val R. Lorwin and Jacob M. Price, eds., The Dimensions of the Past. Materials, Problems and Opportunities for Quantitative Work in History (New Hayen: Yale UP, 1972) and M. Tuñón de Lara, «Problemas actuales de la historiografía española», Sistema, I (1973), 31-50 and «Expansión de los libros de historia», Cuadernos para el Diálogo, no. 120 (septiembre, 1973), 499-501. For the expansion of Madrid after 1860 and the vicissitudes of her lower class, v Peter B. Goldman, Galdós' «Pueblo»: A Social and Religious History of the Lower Classes in Madrid, 1885-1914, forthcoming.

In addition to the works cited in n. 1 above, v, e.g., José Pérez Vidal, ed., Benito Pérez Galdós, Madrid (Madrid: Aguado, 1957).

BPG y la novela histórica española, 1868-1912 (Madrid: Ínsula, 1966).

Goldman, «Historical Perspective and Political Bias...», passim; v also Paul R. Olson, «Galdós and History», MLN, LXXXV (1970), 274-279, and A. R. Carr, «A New View of Galdós», AG, III (1968), 185-189, for other critical comments concerning the reliability of Regalado's literary assumptions.

Clara E. Lída, «Galdós y los Episodios nacionales: Una historia del liberalismo español», AG, III (1968), 61-77.

Unless otherwise indicated, all articles by Galdós cited in the text are found in the Obras inéditas de BPG, ed. Alberto Ghiraldo. Volumes utilized are Fisonomías sociales (hereafter cited as F), which is the first volume in the series; vol. II, Arte y crítica (hereafter AyC); vol. III, Política española, tomo I (hereafter PE-1); idem, tomo ii (vol. IV in the series, hereafter PE-2); vol. VI, Cronicón, tomo I (hereafter C-1); and vol. VII, Cronicón, tomo ii (hereafter C-2). All volumes were published in Madrid by Renacimiento, 1923-1924 (C-2 is not dated; however, Toledo, vol. VIII of the series, contains the editor's prologue which also carries the date of 1924). The passage quoted in the text to this note is located on pp. 294-295 of «Año de reparación», 28 diciembre, 1886: PE-1, 293-298.