de Trueba (1821-1889) was born at Montellano
(Viscaya). At the age of fifteen or sixteen years he
removed to Madrid and engaged in commerce. In 1862 he
was appointed Archivist and Chronicler of the Senorio de
Vizcaya, which post he held for ten years. Trueba, best
known as a writer of short stories, published two volumes
of mediocre verses which achieved considerable popularity
during the author's lifetime, but are now nearly
forgotten.

Cf. _Notas autobiograficas_ in _La Ilustracion Espanola y page 275
Americana_, Enero 30, 1889; Blanco Garcia, II,
26-28 and 301-308; Juan Valera, _Florilegio_, V, 307-311.
For his verses, see _El libro de los cantares_ (1851) and
_El libro de las montanas_ (1867).

=113.=--14. =Cantos=: note the double meaning of _canto_.

=114.=--Jose Selgas y Carrasco (1821-1882) was born
in Murcia. A writer on the staff of the satirical and
humorous journal, _El Padre Cobos_, Selgas won the
attention of the public by his ironical and reactionary
articles and was elevated to an important political office
by Martinez Campos. He is the author of two volumes of
verses, _La Primavera_ (1850) and _El estio_.

See _Introduction_, p. xxxix; and Blanco Garcia, II,
19-23 and 244-250. For Selgas' verses, see his _Poesias_,
Madrid, 1882-1883.

=117.=--Pedro Antonio de Alarcon (1833-1891) was born
in Guadix. He studied law, served as a volunteer in an
African war and became a writer on the staff of several
revolutionary journals. His writings, which at first were
sentimental or radical, became more subdued in tone and
more conservative with his advancing years. In 1877 he was
elected to membership in the Spanish Academy. Primarily
a journalist and novelist, Alarcon published a volume of
humorous and descriptive verses, some of which have merit.

Cf. Blanco Garcia, II, 62-63 and 452-467; and articles in
the _Nuevo Teatro Critico_ (Sept., Oct. and Nov., 1891).
For his verses, see _Poesias serias y humoristicas_, 3d
ed., Madrid, 1885.

=121.=--Gustavo Adolfo Becquer (1836-1870) was born in
Seville, and became an orphan in his tenth year. When
eighteen years of age he went penniless to Madrid, where
he earned a precarious living by writing for journals and
by doing literary hack-work.

See _Introduction_, p. xxxix; Blanco Garcia, II, 79-86 and
274-277. For his works, see his _Obras_, 5th ed., page 276
Madrid, 1898 (with a _Prologo_ by Correa: the _Rimas_ are
in vol. III).

=122.=